The Art of Finding Yourself
by Anna575
Summary: After the Second War, Percy Jackson is lost and can't stop having flashbacks. So the gods send him to help a mysterious group of people known as the Avengers. Their promise is that the Avengers will help him, too. Meanwhile, a new evil has come. Will the Avengers be able to help Percy find himself before it's too late and stop this evil at the same time?
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, people. So this is my first ever fanfiction, and I'm just learning how to work this thing on a computer, even though I've been on for a little over a year now. So if you have some helpful tips or whatever, that would be great. Anyway, this story is set just after the Second Big War with the Seven. For the Avengers, it's set after the movie, and before Iron Man 3. The way I wrote it is that you know about Tony's nervous breakdowns.**

**Disclaimer: I very sadly don't own Percy Jackson or the Avengers.**

* * *

Chapter One

It was never a good thing to be summoned by the gods.

Even me, the supposed "Hero of Olympus," the guy who "isn't afraid of anything, really" thought that was very, very not good. In fact, the second Chiron told me about the meeting, I knew for certain that this was going to be a very serious meeting in which they kinda-sorta tried to get in my business.

I know what you're thinking: gods? Actually involved in their kids' lives? Since when? And yeah, I know, it came as a shock to all of us. I guess they all unanimously decided that they were done trying to stay completely out of their kids' lives after the war. You know, since staying away from their kids didn't really help anything in the end. I think they actually wanted to _try _to get closer to their kids, and since we were willing to meet them halfway, it turned out to be a pretty good arrangement.

Occasionally, we would get a visit from a god. Usually it was your parent, but sometimes if you were as connected like I was to all of the gods, you could get a visit from one of them, too.

In the first few weeks after the war was over, the gods gave their kids some space. Let us try and heal our wounds a little. We still had to work out the peace agreement between the two camps—something that was very boring and took _forever. _It took even longer than it was supposed to because of all the barriers we had to go through. For example, the whole we-blew-your-camp-up-but-it-was-an-accident-becaus e-Leo-was-possesed thing took some time. I think a few of them still haven't forgiven us for that.

After we got done with the negotiations, the gods started visiting us. They asked how we were, if we were okay, did we need help with anything, etc. At first, the talks were really awkward. But gradually, we got to know them better, and learn how to talk to them and stuff like that, and vice versa.

The gods tried to pay a little more attention to the Seven and a few other two-time war veterans. What was left of us, anyway. There really weren't that many two-timers that survived this war plus the one before that, and the ones that did were only half as lively as they used to be. We usually kept to ourselves, and we didn't say much anymore. The Stolls didn't prank very much, and Clarisse didn't try dunking the newbies' heads in the toilet. I knew only time could make us better, and I think the gods knew that, too. They didn't usually talk to us about the war, just asked if we were okay, and talked about things that happened to us on a day-to-day basis.

Whenever my dad or Apollo or Hermes or whoever it was asked me if I was okay, I always said yes. Even though I most definitely wasn't. I was like the anchor of Camp Half-Blood, and if word got around that I wasn't okay, a lot of people might collapse down with me. I was seen as the strongest demigod at both camps, so I had to act that way around everyone. I think my façade had been slipping lately, though. That's the reason I think the gods were having this meeting with me. They knew I needed help, probably.

I walked into the Empire State building, looking around to get a good look at the place. It had been a long time since I had been here. I walked up to the front desk where the same guy from last time was there. The guy who had always been there—even since the first trip up the elevator when I was twelve. The Percy back then seemed like he was a completely different person than the person I was today, the person I had become. I walked up to him, and he handed me the key card wordlessly.

"Thanks," I told him. He nodded at me in acknowledgement and then went back to his fantasy book.

I made my way over to the elevator and inserted the card into the slot. As I waited to get to the 600th floor, I tried to calm my anxiety. I tuned in to what music was playing and smiled softly. Still the same, terrible music as usual. At least that hadn't changed.

I heard the elevator ding and walked out. I started on the way to the throne room, my eyes taking in the beautiful designs. I recognized a few them from the papers Annabeth had showed me one day. I tried to remember how her eyes lit up when she talked about them. Her eyes didn't usually light up that way anymore.

I almost ran into the throne room door because I was so preoccupied with my thoughts. I took a deep breath and let out in a slow motion. Here we go, I thought. I gently pushed the door open and walked in the room. All twelve Olympians were there, along with Hestia and Hades. They were both included more often nowadays. Hades could come to Olympus almost anytime he wanted. He looked much happier, and Hestia's hearth burned a little brighter.

I passed my eyes over all of them, focusing on them instead of the rest of the room, trying not to be overwhelmed. They all looked the same is they always did, really, with the exception of a few worry lines around their eyes. My dad's eyes still twinkled at me as if we were sharing a private joke. I smile briefly at him and then turned to my uncle.

"You wanted to see me, Lord Zeus?" I asked cautiously. I didn't bother bowing to any of them because we were past that stage. I hadn't been in this room since the end of the War, and I wasn't that excited to be in it again, even if it was covered in beautiful designs that I knew could only be designed by Annabeth. I felt the faint traces of a flashback coming upon me and quickly shoved away my thoughts. I tried to concentrate on what was happening right now.

"Yes. We all wanted to speak to you on what has been happening as of late," Zeus and the other gods had what seemed to be their x-ray eyes on. It felt like they were dissecting me and trying to see how I ticked. It was creepy, and I hurried to fill the awkward silence that was filling the air. Well, awkward for just me, probably.

"What do you mean?" I had a bad feeling about this meeting I was having with gods. I knew nothing good was going to come from this conversation. They had mostly left me alone after the War, giving me the space I didn't realize I needed. I sometimes had a few short visits from a few of them, but other than that nothing worth noting.

"Percy," Apollo said almost tentatively. "Are you . . . okay?" Me and Apollo had gotten a little closer over the weeks when he visited with me—sometimes with my dad, sometimes with Hermes or sister Artemis, and other times by himself. "I mean," he hurried to explain himself when he saw my confused face, "you look tired. You haven't been getting enough sleep." The other gods looked like they agreed with him. I looked over at my dad, who had a concerned look on his face.

I answered Apollo's question still looking at Poseidon. "I guess it's a little hard to sleep with the nightmares."

I saw a hint of something flash in my dad's eyes. Sadness that I had to deal with this maybe? I was only eighteen, after all. That was pretty young to the gods, I guess. I was no more than a baby in their years.

"How often do they occur, Percy?" Artemis inquired.

"Well, uh, I don't really see how this matters but at least once a night." I knew I was going to regret bringing up the whole nightmares thing. I should've just kept that to keep myself. _Stupid, stupid, stupid! _I mentally berated myself._ Next time, say that life at camp is tiring. Or you've had to deal with a lot of things lately_. Of course I was talking to the god of truth, so it wouldn't do much good.

"What do you mean at least once a night, Perseus?" my father asked softly, eyebrows furrowed in what could only be fatherly worry. I knew he was serious when he used my full name.

I swallowed. Busted.

"Well, uh . . ."

My dad turned to Zeus. "I told you it was bad."

Zeus rolled his eyes. "Don't start with that. None of us knew how bad it was. Besides, this is the whole reason that we're having this meeting."

"Well, maybe if you had listened to me, this meeting would have happened sooner and—"

"Uh, excuse me? Standing right here. What exactly are we talking about?" Zeus and Poseidon swiveled their heads toward me as if just remembering I was there. They contemplated me for a minute before nodding their heads, like they had decided on something for sure.

"Percy, you're lost," Hestia said simply, "and you need to find yourself." I stared blankly at her for a moment.

Hermes leaned forward a little in throne. "Percy, do you even know why you're here right now?"

"Lord Zeus said it was because he wanted to discuss 'what was happening as of late,'" I said, putting air quotes around those words. A few of the gods' and goddess' eyes crinkled in amusement.

"Well, he was lying," Apollo said. He quickly started backtracking at the glare he received from Zeus. "Wrong choice of words. It's more like . . . not telling the whole truth."

"You realize that this still doesn't make any sense right now, right?" I asked.

"Basically what Father is trying to say is that we need your help, other people need your help, and you need our help and theirs," Dionysus explained unhelpfully while examining his nails. "Clear?"

"Yeah. About as clear as mud. What the heck does that mean?" I looked at my dad for answers.

"Percy, a group of people need your help, but they don't know it yet. You need their help, and you don't know it yet. You're both in the same boat," Dad said.

I stared at him in disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Percy," Artemis said gently. "This will be good for you, even if you can't see it right now."

"How?" I asked a little desperately. "How in the world can some people I've never even met before help me? That's impossible. No one can help me, and I can't help them. I can barely even get myself through a day without having a nervous breakdown or a flashback. And even then it's sometimes hit and miss."

Hestia looked at me seriously. "You're just going to have to trust us, Percy."

I raised an eyebrow. "Trust you?" I looked around at all of them. "You do realize that trust has to be _earned, _right? I mean, we don't have the best history if you look back on it."

Zeus sighed. "Look, Percy. I know we gods haven't given you or any other demigod any reason to trust us, but we need you to trust us this one time. It will help you, I can promise you that."

"Okay, fine. Say I do decide to trust you. What am I going to do to help those people?"

Dad smiled faintly. "Believe it or not, Percy, those people have a lot of the same problems as you do."

I huffed a breath, but I was smiling a little. "Is that just a nice way of saying that they're as screwed up as I am?"

"Yes," Dionysus muttered under his breath.

I rolled my eyes, but then paused as another thought came to mind. "Wait a minute. If I'm going to help them, then they're going to have to know who I really am. They're going to have a hard time believing that."

The god chuckled to themselves. "Oh, somehow I don't think they'll have that hard of a time believing you," Hades said dryly.

"Besides the kid's going to be living with them, so they'll get used to it pretty quick, anyway, if they do have any problems," Zeus said to my dad, who just shrugged.

"What? _Living _with them? They all live together? Who exactly am I helping out?" I asked in confusion.

"I told you he was going to do it," Aphrodite said to Hephaestus. "I never said he wasn't going to say yes," he countered. I followed their small argument like a tennis match, trying to glean any kind of information I could since the gods were being their typical evasive and mysterious selves.

"Well, to you mortals," Athena said, "they're known as the Avengers."

**Aaanndd that's the end of Chapter One. I should have Chapter Two out pretty soon. Until then, drop me a review and tell me how you like it, or what I could improve. Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Alright, my lovelies, another chapter out, just like I said. I just want to thank everyone who favorited/followed/reviewed. Seriously, 13 reviews in just the first chapter? You guys are amazing! It really means a lot to me, and encourages me! So anyway, enough of this, and let's get to the good part you guys are waiting on.**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own my babies. I'll get them from Rick eventually, though.**

* * *

Chapter Two

"What?" I asked a few pitches higher than I wanted to. "The Avengers? Like, _the _Avengers? You're lying. I can't go live with the_ Avengers._"

Apollo grinned at me. "Can and will, Percy."

By this point, I was pretty sure my eyes were falling out of their sockets from being opened so wide. The gods were beginning chuckle at my reaction.

"Close your mouth, Perry," Mr. D said without looking up. I closed my mouth with an audible _clop. _I didn't remember opening it.

"What . . . why . . . how do the Avengers need _my _help?" I finally managed to say. "What can I do for the Avengers?"

Hestia laughed gently, as if she thought I was being cute with how much I was freaking out. "You'd be surprised with what you could contribute to the team."

I shook my head while smiling in disbelief. "Let's see . . . one genius with an amazing suit and other technology no one has, one super soldier, two master assassins, one god of thunder, and an angry green monster who can smash everything by basically touching it." I looked up from where I was counting on my fingers. "Did I miss anyone?"

"Just one," my dad said, his eyes twinkling. "You."

I looked at him skeptically. "Me?"

"Percy, you underestimate yourself. Look back on what you've done to help others." Apollo stared at me hard. "Let us gods tell you something, Percy."

"What?" I asked curiously.

"You're one of the greatest demigods to ever live. Maybe even the greatest. So don't sell yourself short."

"Sorry, what?" I asked in confusion. Me? They must have the wrong demigod. "No way. I think you're forgetting the demigods from way back then. Like Hercules. Or Theseus. And what about Orion? They're, like, twice as powerful as me."

Zeus sighed like he was tired of me being stupid. "Percy, you aren't one of the greatest demigods because you're the most powerful, even though you are pretty strong. And it's certainly not because you're the smartest."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Then why do you think I'm one of greatest demigods?"

"It's because of your heart," Artemis said in a _duh _voice.

"Uh . . . you might want to explain that a little more to me. I don't get it."

Mr. D rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath, "Definitely not the smarts."

"It's the fact that you care, Percy. You genuinely care about everything and everyone," Hestia explained, smiling gently. "It doesn't matter how small or big something is, you always find room to care. You're just an all around good person, Percy."

"Well, um, thanks, I guess. It's kind of my fatal flaw, though. It's gotten me into trouble more times than I can count." My face was flushed red. I was kind of touched that the gods thought of me this way, considering I've never really been told something like this. It was humbling, for sure.

Aphrodite was beaming at my rapidly reddening face. "It seems like you've gotten all of your mother and father's good qualities, Percy. Oh, Annabeth is just so lucky!" she squealed.

Hephaestus quickly predicted what was going to happen if he let his wife go on with this topic and intervened. "So, will you do it, boy?" he said gruffly.

"Can I have some more details first? Like how long am I going to be staying with them? What am I going to be helping them with? Wh—"

"Geez, Percy, slow down! One question at a time," Apollo said, exasperated. "Okay, so, you'll be staying there for as long as we say. Don't give me that look," he told me when he saw my facial expression. "Anyway, as I was saying, you'll stay for as long as we think will help you. You're going to help them with whatever crops up. Trust me, it'll make sense in the moment."

I sighed. This was crazy. Still, a little part of me wanted to see if they could help me. It's not like I had anything to lose. "Do you really think this will help me? I mean, what if it doesn't work out? What if we don't agree on things and get in arguments?"

"Percy, you'll be fine," Hermes said seriously. "I think that they'll get along just fine with you. And yes, I'm positive this will help you."

"Well . . ." I hesitated. I really wanted to do this. I was willing to admit that I needed help, but a few other things bothered me, too. "I'm still going to be able to visit my friends, right? I can't just leave Annabeth alone for a year or however long. And the others, too. I need to check up on them to make sure they're still okay. And I need to check in on my mom and Paul so she doesn't get worried." I looked up anxiously at Zeus. "I'll be able to do that, right?"

"I wouldn't dare keep you from doing that, Percy. Just make sure you let us know when you go to visit camp or your mom. Don't want to have my dear brother worrying every time you aren't with your new friends." Zeus rolled his eyes at my dad.

This sounded like a really good deal. I knew I couldn't pass this up. I was still a little uneasy on leaving Annabeth like that. What if she needed me?

As if Hestia could read my mind, she said, "Annabeth will be fine. I'll watch her, and I will let you know if she starts acting different."

I let a small, relieved smile grace my face. "Thank you."

"So you'll do it, Percy?" Artemis asked. The gods looked at me expectantly.

I let out a low chuckle while shaking my head. "This is crazy. I don't even know where the Avengers live."

"There's one more thing we want to tell you before you leave to start packing." Zeus held my gaze seriously. "If you need anything or have to discuss something with us, call our name and we'll try and get to you. Is that understood?"

"I didn't know you gods were getting that much of a soft spot for me. It makes me go all warm and fuzzy."

"If it was up to me," Ares said, "I'd still pummel you into the size of a speck of a speck of dust if I could. I can still do that," he suggested.

"This is why you all need to eat more cereal. Comments like that could be fixed with cereal." Demeter shook her head sadly, as if she couldn't believe that people didn't eat more cereal.

Hades rolled his eyes skyward and sighed heavily. "Do you understand or not, sea brat?"

I tried unsuccessfully to hide my smile. "Got it."

"You should probably get packing, Percy. You'll have to go soon," Poseidon reminded me.

"Oh, right. When am I leaving again?"

"Today."

"What? Today?" I glanced at my watch. "It's already twelve o' clock, though."

"Well, then, I guess you better get packing, Peter Johnson. You're going to the Avengers' house at five," Mr. D said.

"That gives me five hours to pack everything and say goodbye to everyone."

Apollo grinned at me. "I don't understand why you're still here and not packing."

I suddenly got an idea and smiled. "Wanna do me an easy favor?

* * *

Once the gods had zapped me back to camp, I immediately went to Chiron and told him to get my friends gathered in an hour at the camp meeting room. He asked me if something was wrong, and I told him that I just needed to announce something very important. He looked at me almost knowingly and said he would do it.

I hurried to my cabin and began packing all the t-shirts and jeans I had into two duffel bags. I picked up a picture of me and Annabeth from before the Second War and considered it for a moment. We looked so care-free and happy. I put that in the duffel bag, too, after a moment's contemplation. I grabbed a few other pictures and random things that didn't really make sense to bring but would remind me of camp.

It took me the full hour to pack, so I had to walk pretty quickly to the meeting room. When I got there, everyone turned their heads toward me curiously.

"Ah, Percy, I was just wondering whether we'd have to send someone to get you," Chiron said, breaking the silence. "Please sit down." He gestured to a seat at the head of the ping-pong table.

Once I was comfortably seated, everyone that was gathered watched me expectantly.

Before I could speak, Leo asked, "Oh, Percy, how was your meeting with the gods?"

"That's what this meeting is for. To discuss what happened and what they told me." I shifted nervously.

Annabeth picked up on it immediately, of course. "What did they say?"

"Well, they want me to go live with the Avengers."

Piper let out a low whistle. "Wow. You aren't kidding, are you?"

"I know, I had a hard time getting me to believe it, too."

"Why do they want you to go live with the Avengers?" Annabeth asked without looking up.

"Well, I don't know if you guys have noticed or not, but I'm not exactly doing so hot right now." I really didn't want to tell this, but I knew it was necessary. I had to explain this to them. I wasn't going to tell them about "finding myself," though. "The gods think that the Avengers can help me."

"How does going to live with the Avengers help?" Jason asked, confused.

"I really don't know. The gods just said that they could help me and that I could help them. Even though I really don't get how _I_ could help the _Avengers._"

"Well, I guess the gods have their reasons. When are you leaving?" Leo asked.

I sighed. "The gods said that I leave at five today. Maybe earlier because I have to say explain things to my mom and Paul."

I could tell that they were surprised that I was leaving so soon. I could also feel Annabeth staring at me. "Listen guys, we'll talk some more later if you still have some questions. I need to talk to Chiron for a second."

"Sure, Perce. See you later."

When everyone was walking out the door, I pulled Annabeth off to the side. "Meet me on the beach, please." She looked at me for a moment, then nodded.

I went over to where Chiron was sitting in his wheelchair. "You were quiet today. Is Nico still in the Underworld helping his dad out?"

"Yes. I do not know when he'll be back, either. The Underworld is still a little clogged from the war. I will let him know where you're going," he said. He looked down at his lap.

"Thanks," I told him. "What do you think of all this?" I really wanted his opinion on this. I wanted to make sure what I was doing wasn't the wrong choice.

After thinking for a moment, Chiron finally lifted his head up to look at me. "What do _you _think about this, Percy? Do you truly think this will help you?"

I nodded. "I don't know why, but I just have this feeling that the gods are right on this one. I seriously need anything that has any chance at all of helping me, Chiron. I'm grasping at straws here. I don't think I'll last much longer if I don't get better. I'm just not healing." I suddenly started panicking a little bit. "Chiron, am I making the right choice?"

"Percy, I can't tell you that. I can just tell you that maybe you should go with your gut on this one. If it's saying take this opportunity, then I think you should at least try it."

I sighed a little in relief. "Will you watch out for Annabeth and everyone else while I'm gone, and IM me if something goes wrong?"

Chiron smiled at me, "Of course, child. Now go speak to Annabeth. I think she'll understand, even though she hates the thought of being separated from you as much as you do."

I thanked him once more and jogged out the door to go meet Annabeth.

* * *

I slowly walked up to her and sat down on the ground next to her. I stared out at the ocean like she was. I wondered what she was driving herself crazy thinking about. I turned my head to look at her. I took this chance to study her since I didn't get the chance to during the meeting.

Her hair was still golden blond curls, but it didn't shine as much these days as it used to. Her eyes were still swirling gray depths that always gave away that her mind was thinking a million miles a minute. She was dressed in simple jeans and a Camp Half-Blood t-shirt. Her skin was so tan, it looked like she was glowing. She looked beautiful, even if her face had a few more lines on it since the war. I could still see the weight on her shoulders.

"You okay?" I finally asked her softly.

Annabeth sighed. "You aren't."

"No. I'm not."

"Percy." She sat up straighter and turned her body to face mine. "Let me tell you what we came here to talk about. I know you're dying to know if I'm okay with what you're going to do."

"That obvious? Maybe I just came to talk to you because I like talking to you."

She snorted. "Please, Percy. I know you. Even though I know I am an amazing person to talk to."

I smiled. "Well, I do learn a lot." Then I sobered up. "Are you okay with this? I mean, do you mind? It's just that—"

"Shut up, I'm trying to explain something to you." She started fidgeting with her fingers. "The gods said that this would help you, right?"

"Yeah."

"Percy." Annabeth tilted her head up so she could look at me. She locked her eyes with mine. "I trust you. If you think that this is going to help you with your nightmares, then you need to go for it. Don't hold yourself back because of me. I can take care of myself," she said with a little bit of pride. "I'll be fine."

"I'll still be able to visit you and the others if you get unfine."

"Unfine isn't even a word, Percy."

I rolled my eyes at her. "Whatever. But you're seriously okay with this?"

She sighed impatiently. "In how many languages do I have to say the word 'yes' in order for you to understand?"

"I would like five, but if you can only do four, I guess I can deal with it."

Annabeth laughed and punched me in the arm. "You're such a Seaweed Brain."

I smiled at her. "And you're my Wise Girl." I leaned my head down toward her to kiss her sweetly for a few seconds. When I pulled away, she was still smiling.

"I have to go pack a few more things, then I'll meet you and the others up somewhere so we can hang out before I go." I poked her in the side. "That okay?"

She laughed again and slapped my hand. "Yeah, we'll meet up later."

I walked back to my cabin and started looking around, making sure I didn't leave anything behind. Halfway through my search, I felt another presence in the room. A godly presence. I looked over my shoulder and straightened from where I was looking under my bed. "Hey, Dad."

"Hello, Percy. Looking for something?"

I shook my head. "Nah, just making sure I have everything I need. Did you want something?"

He shrugged. "I just wanted to talk to you for a minute before you go off with your friends." He regarded me seriously for a moment. "Percy, do you know how proud I am of you?"

I turned my body fully towards him, giving him my all of my attention. "You're proud of me? For what?"

"Look at all you've done." At my confused and surprised face, said, "I'm not going to have to tell you everything, am I? Otherwise, you may never get to go hang out with your friends before you leave because it will take too long."

I blushed. "I had a lot of help, though, so half of that stuff doesn't count."

My dad rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Percy. I just wanted to let you know that I couldn't be prouder of you."

He walked over to me and hugged me. He was still as warm as I remember. "Best favorite son ever," he said into my ear. I chuckled. "Best Dad ever," I said back to him.

He finally pulled away and smiled down at me. "Tell Sally I said hi."

"Will do."

He faded into sea mist and was gone. But the warmth from his hug and words didn't leave me. And for that, I was grateful.

I finished checking over everything and checked the time. It read 2:48. I hurried to put my stuff on my bed, that way I could grab it and go, then walked out the room to go meet my friends.

**That's the end. It was kind of long, but you guys don't mind, right? I was kind of iffy with this chapter, and I'm not really sure everyone's in character, but I tried. I figured out an update schedule. Kind of. Anyway, I think I could probably update every 3-5 days, depending on how long the chapter was. I've made a start on Chapter Three, so expect it soon. Leave me review and tell me what you thought about it! It really encourages me!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Chapter Three! Sorry for it being a little late, but my grandparents' dog which is also mine is having liver problems, and they almost had to put him down. He bounced back a little though, so we're good for now. Sorry for it being a little shorter than you're probably used to with me, but I have it planned perfectly that Percy really meets the Avengers next chapter. Promise! Also, can I just say a huge thank you to everyone who reviewed! Over thirty? I love you guys! Seriously, every time I write, I think of your reviews. So anyway, onward to the story!**

**Disclaimer: Nope, I still don't own Percy Jackson OR the Avengers. So depressed right now.**

* * *

Chapter Three

I met back up with Annabeth and the others at a clearing in the forest that Grover had found on one of the rare occasions he was at camp and not out saving wildlife and forests. It wasn't a big clearing, but it wasn't small, either, so it fit our needs perfectly. It even had a small pond, which was great if I ever wanted to make someone mad at me. I could just splash them.

I walked up to them where they were sitting on the log benches we had made ourselves. It was a beautiful day outside, and the air was cool and refreshing. Summer was coming soon, so the flowers were in full bloom. I took a seat next to Annabeth.

"So, Percy," Piper began. "Did the gods say how long they wanted you at the Avengers' house?"

"Well, kind of. They said that I would be there for as long as they thought would help me." I shrugged. "I'm not really sure how long that is. I know it can only be a year max, though."

"Did they give you any specifics on how you were going to be helping them?" Leo asked.

I shook my head. "All my dad said was that some people have the same problems as me. I don't know, maybe he thinks we're somehow alike? I'm just as confused as you guys on this one."

Jason smiled with his eyes looking a little dazed. "Dude, the _Avengers." _

Leo grinned like a child who just saw the mother load of candy. "We just might have to come visit you one day, Perce."

"You just might. Don't sneak up on anyone, though. It would suck to survive a war and get killed by a master assassin because you snuck up on them," I laughed.

"Do you think they would get mad at me if I asked them for an autograph?"

"I don't think Tony Stark would mind," Annabeth said. Her eyes glazed over like when she talks about architecture. I missed that look; I didn't see her get that excited over anything anymore usually. "Oh, what I would give to talk to him for even an hour. We could discuss the structure of his tower and what kind of support beams he used and the technology behind powering the building like that and—"

"A bunch of other stuff, too, I'm sure," I cut across her quickly. She gave me a dirty look for interrupting her, but I could tell she didn't mean it because her eyes shown with mirth.

Piper got a sad, wistful look in her eyes. "I bet Frank and Hazel would have liked to see them. 'Course they're in Elysium right now, so maybe that's better."

We all smiled sadly at the bittersweet memory of them. I tried to clear the lump in my throat unsuccessfully, then said, "Well, if they were here, Frank would be freaking out like a girl trying to convince me to get Hawkeye to sign his bow, and Hazel would be asking who they were." My friends let out small chuckles.

I felt the familiar guilt start creeping up on me whenever I thought about those that had been lost during the war. My vision started getting fuzzy around the edges. I tried focusing in on what someone was saying, desperately trying to get away from the flashback, but all I heard was a distant murmur. I heard whispering. I suddenly was attacked by a huge headache.

—_darkness, pit, falling, no, no, no, can't tell them anything—_

—_can't let them hurt her, can't let them hurt Annabeth—_

—_bodies of monsters and demigods everywhere, blood on my clothes and hands—_

—_Hazel being run through with a sword by a monster, Frank's wooden stick burning—_

—_screaming, power, red, pain, pain, PAIN—_

"Percy!" Annabeth shouted, shaking me.

My heart was jumping out of my chest, my head was pounding, and I was breathing like I had just run a marathon. I looked up and saw five pairs of worried and concerned eyes looking back at me. I ran a hand through my hair and sighed shakily. "So it's going to be one of those days."

After that, my friends steered clear of talking about anything that had to do with Hazel and Frank, the war, and pretty much everything else they thought would set me off on another flashback.

At four o'clock, I excused myself to go my room and pick my bags up since I didn't know when the gods would bring me to my mom's house. When I went into my cabin, though, I saw nothing on my bed except a sea green-colored note. It was covered in a familiar scrawl.

_Dear Perseus,_

_We have taken the liberty of dropping your bags off at the Avenger household. We have also included your armor and headgear you will be wearing to protect your identity. Your father will arrive to bring you to your mother's house at 4:15 P.M. sharp. Be prepared._

_ Sincerely, _

_ The gods_

I rolled my eyes at the formal letter. It was pretty obvious who had written the letter, or at least who had had a say in it. I tucked the note in the back pocket of my jeans and walked back out the door to go say goodbye to my friends.

I met them at the big house. I got confused looks from all of them since I told them I was going to get my bag and had showed up bagless. "The gods already transferred my bags to the Avengers' house," I explained. "Oh, and they also said something about armor and 'headgear,'" I said, putting air quotes around headgear. "I'm kind of interested to see what _that _looks like."

"I bet it's gonna be cool. I wonder who made it? My dad or the Cyclops?" Leo mused aloud.

"I guess I'll find out when I get there. As long as it's strong and not pink with flowers on it, I'm okay with whatever they give me."

"You're leaving in a few minutes?" Annabeth asked.

"Yeah. I'm going to my mom's house at 4:15," I said.

Piper smiled. "If you're worried about her not being okay with it, stop it. Of course she'll be okay with it." She rolled her eyes. "She loves you." Sometimes I swore Piper could read minds.

I looked down sheepishly. "You better not be charmspeaking me."

She looked at me playfully. "Are you sure you don't want me to?"

"Positive."

I looked at my watch. "I have to leave in seven minutes." I glanced up at them. "I wish I could stay a little longer, but it's time for the goodbyes." I hated any kind of goodbyes.

Piper walked forward and hugged me. "Take care of yourself, Percy. And you better come visit at least twice a month."

I chuckled. "Of course, Pipes."

Leo came next and wrapped his arms around me. He started fake crying. "Oh, man, I'm gonna miss you so much. I don't want you to go!" He made disgusting snot noises into my shirt while I patted his back. "It's okay, man. I'll come back soon for you."

"For me?" he looked at me while clutching onto my shirt.

"Just for you."

Leo backed away laughing. "I'm so awesome."

Jason tried to be manly and just give me a handshake, but I roughly tugged him in. "Come on, Jason, you know you want a hug from me. I've been told my hugs are very warm."

He clapped my on the back once and then grinned at me, shooting me a cheerful, "Don't die!"

Then I walked over to Annabeth. She smiled at me, then came up and wrapped her arms around me. I tucked my face into her hair, breathing in the strawberry scent. "Be safe, Percy." She pulled back a little so she could look at me. "Promise me that."

"Pinky swear," I said seriously, holding out a pinky for her to take with her own. Once we had sweared, I smiled at her with big doe-eyes. "And pinky swears can't be broken unless you want your pinky cut off."

She laughed and shoved me in the shoulder. "I should've known you would say something like that."

I pulled her back in for a kiss that made me feel like warmth was slowly spreading all over my body, starting from the lips. We were both smiling. I heard someone clear their throat behind me. We broke apart and turned around. I saw my dad standing there with a smirk on his face. "Am I interrupting something? Because I can come back in a few minutes when you two are done."

Annabeth and me both blushed, but I started smirking right back at him. "You just want to go to Mom's house and have cookies."

He blushed a little and said, "I would only stay for cookies if I was welcome."

I gave him a knowing look, then turned back to my friends. "Well, I guess this is it, for now."

"See you later, Perce," Jason said.

I smiled. "See you later, guys."

Poseidon walked up behind me and laid a hand on my shoulder. "You might want to look away now," he told them.

I closed my eyes, and when I reopened them, I was in my mom's apartment. I smelled cookies. I looked at Dad to see the same childish delight I probably had ino my eyes.

"Cookies," we both said at the same time. I raced my dad to the kitchen and almost ran into my mom.

"Mom!" I exclaimed. She pulled me in for a tight hug. She pulled away with her hands still on my shoulders, eyes roaming over me. I knew what she was after. I gently took both her hands into mine. "Mom, I'm fine."

She huffed. "No, you aren't. But that's what we're here to talk about, isn't it?" She saw me and Dad's eyes slowly but surely drifting over to the kitchen where the cookies were. She rolled her eyes. "Men," she muttered to herself as she lead the way into the kitchen. "Single track mind."

Dad and I ignored her in favor of the warm blue chocolate-chip cookies that were lying innocently on a plate. I rushed forward and got the first cookie with Dad close behind me. Once we were all seated around the table with the pile of cookies in front of us, we started talking.

"Your father said that you have something important to tell me," she said. "What is it?"

I swallowed the rest of my cookie and started explaining the gods' plan for me to go live with the Avengers. When I was finished, she regarded me for a minute, then nodded.

"I think this is a good idea," she told me and Poseidon.

"Really?" I asked. "You're okay with this?"

She smiled warmly at me. "Percy, anything that you think will help with your nightmares and such, I'm one hundered percent okay with." She squinted at me. "Speaking of that, how did you sleep last night?"

I didn't look at her. "Fine." In reality, I slept about two hours last night because of a nightmare. The nightmare had been about a six on Percy's Nightmare Scale, which wasn't my worst, but prevented me from going back to bed.

I saw my dad shift next to me, no doubt sensing my lie. My mom sighed and opened her mouth to say something. Before she could, I heard the clock chime five o'clock. I winced. "Time's up."

My mom stood and hugged me again. "Be careful, Percy."

"I will."

"Bye, Mom."

"Goodbye, Sally. Thank you for the cookies," Dad said. Mom blushed and said, "It was no trouble.

My dad and me walked out the door to zap out in the hallway. On the way there, my dad told me, "Liar."

I turned to face him. "Would you like me to tell her the truth?"

He sighed and kept silent. I took that as an I-don't-know.

We walked out the door. He placed his hand on my shoulder. He looked at me seriously, then asked, "Ready?"

I fidgeted nervously. "Not really."

"You'll be fine, Perseus. I have a feeling you will get along good with them," he reassured me.

I tried smiling anxiously at him. "If you think so."

He just smiled back at me and said, "Remember what I told you back at your cabin. And you can always call me when you need to." He clapped my shoulder. "Now close your eyes."

When I opened them, I was in what looked like a high-tech gathering place, made for meetings. It had a table that could fit ten people, and small kitchen to the left. I face the people in the room and took a breath to settle my nerves.

"Hi. My name is Percy Jackson."

**Like it? Love it? Hate it? I myself felt just okay with this chapter. I'm not to sure with the flashback scene. Was that okay? I'll try and get Chapter Four up soon since I know you guys are DYING to see Percy with the Avengers. Anyway, leave me a review and tell what you guys thought. I love them, and it makes my day everytime I see one! Until Chapter Four . . .**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: You might be thinking this is an early update. You would be right. You see, we're going to my grandparents' camp for the Fourth of July and a day or two after, so it sets back my writing a bit. I was going to wait for a long one after I got back, but I thought you guys would really start a riot and kill me, so I decided to give you this. I don't know when I can update again, but hopefully it will be Saturday or Sunday. Sorry!**

**Disclaimer: You've got the wrong person. I don't own any of these characters, unfortunately.**

* * *

Chapter Four

"Security breach, Jarvis," Tony Stark said mildly, sizing me up. I tried to imagine what he saw. A scrawny teenage kid, with messy hair. Probably just another thing to get in the way. I don't know why, but I felt the urge to prove them wrong. To prove that I _could _help their team.

"Apologies, sir," a voice that seemingly came out of ceiling said. I looked up in confusion, but my attention was brought back to the other people in the room.

There was a tall, dark skinned man in front of me with an eye patch. He was staring at me hard, but something told me that he looked at _everyone _that way. Captain America was standing to the man's right, looking at me curiously, but not with any judgment. Tony Stark was on the man's left, looking at me like a new toy. Next to him was a man with curly brown hair, who seemed nervous since he was fidgeting with his hands. There was also a tall blonde, who was so huge, I really couldn't figure out how I missed him. He must have been the god. Last, there were two people half in the shadows of the room. One was a woman with curly red hair, and the other was a man with short blonde hair. Both were staring at me with no emotion on their faces.

Finally the intimidating man in the front stepped forward a bit. "Hello. We've been expecting you."

"What we weren't expecting was you to just pop right in front us. That was a little surprising." Tony Stark was still smirking. I had a feeling he got on the dark skinned man's nerve by the way he rolled his eyes. Er, eye.

"My name is Nick Fury. You want to tell me how you did that, son?" he asked me seriously. All these people were seriously starting to scare me. They could probably kill me twenty different ways with a pen cap. I shook myself mentally. I had fought _much _bigger and more powerful things than them. I could deal with this. Then my brain finally registered what he said.

"Wait a minute," I said. "Your last name is _Fury_?"

Nick Fury raised an eyebrow at me. "Is that a problem, son?"

I blew out a breath of air, thinking on my bad history with Furies. "Let's hope not."

He opened his mouth to say something else, but then Captain America stepped forward. "I'm sure that can wait for a little bit. He doesn't even know our names." Nick Fury rolled his eyes, but didn't complain.

Captain America held out his hand for me to shake. "My name is Steve Rodgers." He smiled. "You might know me better as Captain America, though."

"It's nice to meet you, sir," I told him politely.

Tony Stark stepped forward. "You're looking at Tony Stark, aka Iron Man. I hope you like poptarts for breakfast." He shook my hand while I looked confused at him.

"I like the strawberry and the s'mores kind," I finally told him.

He looked at me appreciatively. "You and Thor will get along just fine. You both like strawberry." He stepped back a few steps to let the huge blonde god pass him.

He must have been at least six or seven inches taller than me. I tilted my head up so I could see all of his face. "Perseus Jackson," he said solemnly. "It is a pleasure to finally get to meet you. My name is Thor Odinson, god of thunder."

I winced at the use of my full name. Definitely a god. Only gods and monsters new my real name. Then I frowned a little at what he said. "How do you know me?"

Thor chuckled. "Many people in Asgard know of you. We like to tell your stories when ours have been told too many times. Your bravery is well known."

I blushed. "Well, I don't know about bravery. And I couldn't have done anything without the help of my friends."

Thor looked at me contemplatively. "We also talk about your modesty. I made a wager once that betted you were that modest against Sif, my friend, who said it was impossible." He smiled triumphantly. "It seems to me that I was right."

"Uh . . ." My face was hot and probably as red as a tomato.

"Bruce Banner." The man with the curly brown hair and glasses said, putting out a hand. I sighed in relief at this guy who had saved me from more embarrassment and shook his hand.

"I'm also known as the Hulk." Suddenly he and the others were paying special attention to this conversation, as if seeing how I would react to this knowledge.

I cocked my head, regarding the man in front of me. He certainly didn't _look _scary and huge, but something told me that what he said was true.

"Well, uh, no offence," I said, "but you look a lot bigger and greener in your pictures."

He let out a shocked laugh, and I saw the others smile behind him. I guess he had a history with people being scared of him.

"It's nice to meet you, kid," he told me sincerely. I smiled back at him.

The woman and the man in the shadows walked over to me. The woman introduced herself first. "My name is Natasha Romanov. I'm known as the Black Widow." The name sounded vaguely familiar to me.

The man came forward next. "I'm Clint Barton. I'm known as Hawkeye." Again, it seemed like I'd heard that name before.

I shook both of their hands, and when I was done, Fury sighed impatiently. "Now that we all made friends, we have more important matters to discuss. How did you appear in this room out of thin air?" he almost demanded.

I furrowed my brow. "You mean you don't know?"

Fury frowned. "Know what?"

"About me." I gestured to myself. "About what I am, who I am, stuff like that."

"What, are you like a mutant or something?" Tony asked curiously. Bruce Banner nudged him in the ribs. "I was just wondering," Tony mumbled.

I rubbed my eyes. "What exactly did my dad tell you?"

Fury spread his hands a little bit. "All he told me was that you were going to be on our team from now on. He said we could both help each other. He seemed to think something was going to happen soon. Care to explain?" he asked.

I groaned. "Oh my gods. They are _so _in trouble. Are they kidding me?" I said to myself, frustrated. Of course they would do this to me. "Ugh, I knew this would happen. I just _knew _it." I rubbed at my temples, trying to get rid of the headache that was already beginning to bloom. I had to explain _everything _to them now. I shouldn't even be surprised the gods made me do this. They were known for forgetting the little details.

"What do you mean?" Steve Rodgers asked.

"Listen, I'll tell you all about me, and some of what I've done, but I have no clue what my dad's talking about. I thought we had taken care of everything already that wanted to kill millions of people." I rolled my eyes. "Should have known I wouldn't get a break. It must be something pretty big, though, if they sent me over here to help you. Sort of," I said.

"Let me start from the beginning," I told them when I saw their confused expressions. "You've heard about all of those Greek myths, right? Well, here's the thing," I hesitated. It had been a while since I had had to explain this to anyone.

"What about them?" Natasha Romanov prompted me.

"They aren't myths." I paused for a second, letting that sink in. "All of the gods? They're real."

I saw they were all surprised. Lucky for me, though, it looked like they believed me. I'm sure they had heard stranger things.

"Oh, not to mention their Roman aspects. But that's for a later time. It'll confuse you." I bit my lip. I had to hope I was explaining this clearly.

"What does this have to do with you?" Clint Barton asked curiously.

"Do you remember what the gods did back then? They went around having affairs with the mortals." I waited for it to click in their brains. Bruce caught on first.

"And you're saying that you're the product of one of those affairs?" he asked timidly.

I sighed wearily. "That's _exactly _what I'm saying." I ran a hand through my hair. "My father is Poseidon, the god of the sea."

"There are others like you?" Tony asked.

I nodded my head. "Yeah. Children of Demeter, Athena, Hermes, etcetera. Now," I said, "not all of us are really powerful. The children of the Big Three are really powerful and consequently, dangerous. They affect the course of history too much. That's why there aren't many of us."

"Who are the Big Three?" Steve inquired.

"Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, or the three men that Kronos fathered."

Fury paused for a minute. "So you're saying that you're one of these powerful kids?"

"Well, let me explain something to you first. After World War II, which was between the kids of the Big Three, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades swore an oath. They had apparently found out that one of their kids was going to be given the choice that would either save the world or destroy it." I shrugged. "I don't know, I guess they decided to stop it before it occurred, but they swore not to have any more kids."

"And?" Clint said.

"It wasn't just any oath. They swore it on the River Styx." Thunder rumbled in the distance. "Whenever you swear on it, you can't break it. When you do, well," I winced. "It ain't pretty."

"So anyway, the gods broke it. Zeus broke it first, and as a result, my friend Thalia happened. When gods break an oath, they don't get the punishment. Any guesses as to who got it?"

Natasha Romanov's eyes widened a fraction. "Your friend?"

Clint frowned. "That isn't very fair."

I snorted. "Tell me about it. Long story short, she gave herself up and died for her friends. Her dad took pity on her when she was dying and turned her into a tree to protect the borders of our camp."

Tony looked at me strangely. "A tree?"

"A pine tree," I confirmed. "She's okay now, though, Hunter of Artemis." I realized my ADHD was taking me off track a little and decided to get to the point.

"But enough about Thals, let's talk about me for a sec. So Zeus wasn't the only god who broke it. My dad broke it and I was the result. Me and Thalia were literally a mistake. We shouldn't have ever been born.

"Yet another long story short, the prophecy said that when the kid was sixteen, he would have to make his or her big decision. Take a wild guess at what I got to do on my birthday," I said.

"A battle occurred, did it not? Between you and the titan Kronos?" Thor asked.

"Yeah," I told him. "It was a giant mess, really. I don't know if you remember," I said to Fury, "but it was in Manhattan."

Tony snapped his fingers. "So let me guess. Freak storms all across the country weren't actually freak storms."

"Bingo," I said. "Do you remember the big storm that seemed like it was traveling to the Empire State Building? That was actually one of the few things the gods are scared of. They almost didn't beat it."

"Okay, so, how did you stop this titan, uh, Kronos? What kind of choice did you have to make?" Steve asked.

"First you have to understand that there was this guy named Luke who I thought was friend. I was twelve when I met him; I had just found out I was a demigod and all that stuff. It turned out he was working for Kronos. Then he tried to kill me by poisoning me." I winced, rubbing the spot on my palm where the pit scorpion had stung me. "Not the best way to go, believe me.

"So leading up to my sixteenth birthday, I got to lead a small army of demigods to fight against a few thousand monsters. On the day of my sixteenth birthday, we were in the throne room of the Olympians. By that time, Luke had been Kronos' body for a few months. Kronos was about to burn up his body for a stronger one. I knew if we let that happen, it would all be over." I swallowed a little, trying to get rid of the small lump in my throat.

"He was kicking me and Annabeth and Grover's butts for a little while. We got to the point where he was weaponless, and I only had a knife that I couldn't use as well as my sword." I wrinkled my face. "This would have been easier, but Luke and I had both taken a dip in the Styx. Whenever you do that, you become invulnerable everywhere but one point on your body."

"Did it hurt?" Steve asked.

I let out a small, humorless laugh. "It's still to this day the most physically painful thing I've ever been through."

Tony tilted his head. "Did you know it was going to hurt?"

"Well, I knew it wasn't going to be some walk in the park, but I wasn't expecting _that._" I shook my head. "We're going to be here all day at the rate we're going at. Back to the story.

"So Luke managed to get control of Kronos, and he told me that I had to give him the knife because only he knew where he was vulnerable. That was when I realized I had to make a choice. I gave him the knife." I ducked my head, fidgeting with my fingers. "He stabbed himself, and Kronos went back to Tartarus." I shivered when I said that name. "Luke died a hero in the end."

"So that's my beginning," I said with a hint of forced cheerfulness. "Any questions, comments, concerns about story time?"

"How do we know you're for real?" Fury asked.

I opened my mouth to say something, but Steve beat me to it. "You don't believe him, Director?"

"Me believing him isn't the problem. It's the Council. We need concrete evidence that what he's saying is true to convince them," Fury said calmly.

"You could record me doing something, right? Or I could show them my sword," I suggested.

Thor smiled. "Show us your sword first."

I took out Riptide from my pocket and held it up. "You're looking at it."

Tony frowned. "You defeated an all-powerful titan with a _pen_?"

I laughed. "Sorry that never gets old. Here, watch this." I took off Riptide's cap and watched as my Celestial bronze sword popped out of nowhere to them.

"Okay," Tony said, smiling in disbelief. "Now _that _is seriously cool. How does that work?"

"How about I let you see it later. It's not like you can hurt yourself on it."

Bruce frowned. "What do you mean he can't hurt himself on it? It looks pretty dang sharp to me."

"It's Celestial bronze," I explained. "It can only hurt demigods, monsters, gods, titans, things like that. It can't hurt mortals."

"Really?" Clint asked. "Could you show us?"

I shrugged. "Sure. Who wants to be the dummy?"

"Tony," everyone said at the same time Tony said, "Me!"

"Okay, watch closely." I stepped up to Tony and brought down the sword slowly to where his wrist was; it passed right through, and Tony grinned.

"Oh my gosh, I have to run some tests on that," he said excitedly.

I smiled at his energy. "Sure. Just don't mess it up."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Tony said distractedly.

"You're probably tired of talking," Steve cut in before anyone else could ask me anything. "We can show you where you'll be staying. Or, Tony will since I _still_ get lost in this tower sometimes."

"Wait a minute," I held my hands up. "_Tower_?"

"Yeah. It's the Avengers' tower. You're on the sixty-fifth floor right now." Natasha looked at me a little strangely. "I'm surprised you don't know that. It's all the news casters talk about since we all moved in." Natasha scowled.

"I couldn't tell you the last time I watched TV. Anytime a demigod gets on an electronic, it calls all the monsters in the area to come and attack you." I grimaced. "When you're a child of the Big Three, you already give off a powerful smell, so monsters are naturally attracted to me. I try not to encourage them."

Tony was about to say something else, but my stomach decided to give a rumble rivaling the thunder from earlier just then. I blushed crimson as the others smiled. "Yo, J," Tony said. "Order us ten large pizzas. The regular."

"Of course, sir," the smooth voice said. I looked up at the ceiling, frowning.

"That's Tony's Artificial Intelligence. His name is Jarvis," Bruce explained to me. "Say hi, Jarvis."

"Greetings, Mr. Jackson. I am here to assist all residents in this tower in anything they might need. If you have a question or require help in any way, all you must do is ask," Jarvis said.

"Uh, okay. Thanks Jarvis," I told him. Er, it?

"Let me show you where you'll be staying, and then we'll eat when the pizza gets here. Sound good?" Tony threw over his shoulder as he started to walk out the room.

"Sounds great," I told him.

"Percy Jackson," I heard someone call. I turned my head to look at Fury. "I will come back in soon to talk to you some more. I hope you will be prepared," he said gravely.

"Yes sir. I'll be ready," I said with only a little bit of nervousness.

He studied me closely for a second while I held my breath. Then he nodded, and I walked out the room to follow Tony to my room.

**A/N: Ugh, what a terrible chapter. I really wasn't happy at all with this chapter, but I guess it had to be done. It was a little boring, I thought, but whatever. At least I got it out. Next chapter will be more interesting, with a little bit of bonding and getting to know each other. Who knows when I'll have it out. So until then, drop me review and let me know what you think! I really appreciate them, and it encourages me. Also I was thinking about doing a oneshot with just Percy Jackson characters. I don't know when I'll publish it, but I do know it will be very, very sad and depressing. Okay, thanks for reading and see you in Chapter Five!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Alright, guys, here it is. Chapter Five. The one with the attempted beginning of team bonding between Percy and the Avengers. Let's hope you like it. *crosses fingers* Thanks for all of the reviews! 55 reviews? You guys are amazing! Thanks to the guest reviewers, too. I wish I could tell you thank you by responding to your reviews, but I can't. So I'll just do it here! Thanks!**

**Disclaimer: I'm not even the same gender as Stan Lee and Rick Riordan. So of course I don't own them.**

* * *

Chapter Five

"So, kid," Tony started. "Where are you from?"

We were walking down a hallway to what seemed like the elevators. I had the feeling this tower was huge. The carpet was nice, the walls were nice, pretty much everything was nice. I wasn't used to niceness like this.

"Manhattan," I answered. "Born and raised."

"Do you stay in Manhattan or what? I mean, is there a place for people like you?" he asked me as we took another left and finally arrived at the elevators. I considered how much of his question I should answer as we stepped into the elevator.

"There's this place where demigods live. It's one of the two places we can live in safety." I looked over at Tony. He still hadn't pressed a button for a floor. "Um, are you going to press a button? Because if I'm going to be living here, then I can't say I won't be a little disappointed. Even though this is one of the nicest elevators I've ever been in."

He snapped out of his reverie and smirked. "Whose elevator is nicer than mine?"

"The gods," I said nonchalantly.

He straightened. "Well, can't really beat them, but I could try. Oh, and you'll be staying on the same floor as us. It's where the whole team's rooms are." He pressed a button I had missed before labeled "Avengers' Floor." Next to the label, someone had put a post-it-note that said "The Awesome Floor."

I looked at it strangely for a moment as we ascended. "You have a button called 'Avengers' Floor?'"

"Uh, yeah," Tony said in a tone that implied that it was the most logical and normal thing to do. "Seventy-sixth floor. So back to this place where you guys stay. Explain a little more, maybe?"

"Well, we call it Camp Half-Blood. It's where all of the Greek demigods stay." The elevator dinged, and we stepped off. "There's another one where the Roman demigods stay. But that's not important right now because that will just confuse you." We took a right, then a left, and I continued explaining. "It's a place where we learn how to use a sword, and a bunch of other survival stuff that all demigods need to know."

"Do you guys just live at the camp or something? Because a ton of kids plus limited adult supervision equals disaster, I'm pretty sure. At least, that's how it was when I was a kid." Tony led me into a kitchen, then a right. We started seeing doors to rooms.

"Well, everyone's been kind of quiet these days. You know, not as many pranks, people aren't talking to each other that much, that kind of thing." I shrugged. "But before the Second War, it was pretty crazy, but it was a good kind of crazy."

Tony nodded. "I get where you're coming from. With the crazy thing, that is; I'm pretty sure I know all kinds of crazy. What do you mean Second War?" He looked at me with just a hint of seriousness. I could tell he really wanted to know since he dropped all hints of humor that seemed to surround him. "There was another war?"

"Yeah. There was the one when I was sixteen, and the one that just finished about two and half months ago." I wrinkled my nose when my stomach growled again. "How about I tell you more about both of them when the whole team gets together to eat pizza. Deal?"

He stroked his beard, then grinned. "Sure thing, kid. We're at your room anyway. You'll be staying between Clint and Bruce." He pointed at my door and smirked. "Good luck. Clint likes to crawl around in the air conditioning vents, and Bruce might Hulk-out if he sees a spider in his room."

I smiled. "I think I can deal. I've had to deal with my girlfriend and her entire cabin before. All kids of Athena are deathly afraid of spiders. Besides, it's no worse than waking up to a dead skunk in your room." Tony laughed. "Courtesy of the Stoll brothers, sons of Hermes."

"I think I might have fun with the sons of Hermes." He looked wistful.

I cocked my head, looking thoughtful. "I don't know, I think you could work with the Athena cabin. And maybe even Hephaestus' kids."

"Yeah," he said, still looking dreamy. He shook his head a little. "Okay, so I'll give you a little while to settle in with your . . . bags?" He looked like he suddenly remembered that to stay in his tower, I might need some bags. "Where's your—"

"Stuff?" I finished for him. "The gods already delivered it."

"They knew what room you were going to be in?" he asked, surprised.

"I guess so. They're major stalkers," I said as thunder boomed across the sky. "And no, that wasn't Thor." I grinned at Tony's expression.

"That was—"

"Yeah. I told you they're stalkers. They listen in on everyone's conversations."

"Uh . . ." Tony said when the thunder crashed even louder outside. "Okay. I'll remember that." He pointed to a direction vaguely behind his back. "I'm gonna go and see if the pizza's here yet. Jarvis will let you know when the pizza's here." He walked a little quicker out the room then necessary.

I snickered quietly to myself. I opened my door and stopped laughing. I felt my mouth open, and I didn't even bother attempting to shut it.

My room was huge. I'm sure it was the size of my mom's apartment. It had a huge bed, and the view out over the city was amazing. I saw a door to what probably led to my own bathroom. I nudged the door open and walked into the cavernous bathroom. It had a shower and a bathtub, along with a sink, which was in front of a large mirror. The toilet was in the corner.

I slowly turned in a circle, feeling a little overwhelmed. This was something I could never have imagined in my wildest dreams. This was crazy. Not just the bathroom and the bedroom, but this whole situation. I was at the _Avengers' Tower._ It was just . . . crazy. But maybe, this would be okay. Maybe this would be the good kind of crazy. I hadn't good crazy in a long time.

I walked out my fancy bathroom into my fancy bedroom and looked at the bags that were sitting on the bed. I went over to them and stared at them. I figured I should probably start unpacking. I groaned. This was going to be so boring.

I started with the clothes and finished with those pretty quickly. I took out all of the extra things I had taken with me. I organized them into the two drawers I had in the nightstand next to my bed. I took out the few pictures I had taken with me and spread them out all over the room. It started to feel warmer and friendlier.

I turned away for a minute to adjust a picture that was sitting lopsided on the dresser, and when I turned back, there was another bag sitting on my bed. I didn't recognize it. I padded over to it, checking the bag over once. Old habits die hard, I guess. I picked up the letter sitting on top of bag.

_Dear Percy,_

_ Here's the armor we promised you. I had it designed just for you, and, if I do say so myself, it's pretty amazing. It also has a few little things installed into it that are bonuses. You'll figure those out eventually. You'll be fine, and the Avengers don't hate you. So, stop worrying. Oh, and Zeus says to watch what you're saying about us. Feel free to ignore him, I often do._

_ Poseidon_

I smiled and tucked the letter into the nightstand drawer. I unzipped the bag and gasped.

The armor was awesome. It was a bronze-gold color. It was made out of something strong, but I instinctively knew it wasn't Celestial bronze. It had graceful blue-green wave patterns along the edges. I picked up the helmet, swiveling it around slowly to see every aspect. It, too, had elegant wave patterns on it, and had a single slot for my eyes to see through. I knew the whole set of armor was exactly fitted to my body, even though I didn't remember getting a fitting for the armor. I didn't even want to imagine how my dad got my measurements.

"Sir," a voice said from the ceiling, startling me enough to drop the helmet with a clang. I almost dropped into the defensive position. I even went so far as to reach my hand into my pocket to take out Riptide when I remembered it was just Tony's AI, Jarvis.

"Yes?" I asked.

"The team would like me to inform you of the pizza's delivery."

"Yeah, tell them I'll be right there. Are they in the kitchen on this floor?" It felt weird talking to the ceiling, even though I knew I was going to get an answer back.

"Yes, they are currently in the kitchen on this floor awaiting your presence," Jarvis told me.

"Okay, thanks," I said.

"Anytime, sir."

I pulled the bag of armor off the bed and it in the closet. I hurried out the room to the kitchen, my stomach rumbling the whole way.

When I entered into the kitchen after several wrong turns, I was greeted with the sight of ten large pizzas and six hungry Avengers staring at me. I shot them a sheepish grin and walked quickly to the available chair between Steve and Natasha. As soon as I sat down, it seemed like it had turned into a free-for-all. The guys lunged for the pizza at the same time, and Natasha simply reached over their bodies with a hand and plucked out a few slices. I wasn't entirely sure how she managed to escape with her arm.

Natasha turned to me. "What kind of pizza do you want?"

"Pepperoni," I said automatically. She leaned over the bodies again, and when her hand surfaced again, she had three slices of pepperoni pizza. She handed them to me. "Thank you," I said, still a little shocked at the whole thing.

She gave me a faint smile and shrugged slightly. "I didn't think you'd want to deal with that on your first day here."

"Is it always like that?" I asked her, gesturing to the bodies that were slowly pulling back now that they had gotten what they wanted.

She grimaced as she saw the mess they had made. "It's usually only on pizza night. They like to see who can eat the most pieces of pizza the fastest."

I glanced over to where the guys were gulping down the pizza. "Who holds the record?"

"Bruce." Her eyes glinted with humor. "It was after a particularly hard battle, if I remember correctly. Being the Hulk is apparently very tiring and works up a _huge_ appetite. He ate thirty-seven pieces pizza in fifteen minutes."

My eyes widened. I looked over at Bruce who was managing to scarf down his supreme pizza in an almost dignified manner. "Where did all that pizza go?"

Natasha shook her head. "I have no idea."

Bruce looked up at me and Natasha. "Natasha, I can hear you telling him that story about the pizza. For the record," he said, looking at me, "I don't usually eat that much. I'll probably only eat fifteen today."

"Only fifteen," I repeated. "Well, I guess eating for two _is_ a little hard."

Bruce smiled. "Finally someone who gets it."

"What?" Tony asked, finally looking up and tuning into the conversation. "What are we talking about?"

"Bruce's eating habits," Steve said, not looking up from his pizza.

"He eats almost as much as Thor and Steve," Tony told me.

"Can't be any worse than demigods after Capture the Flag." I winced. "Now, _that's _a little gross."

"You play Capture the Flag at your camp?" Clint asked quizzically.

"Not usually," I informed him. "And when we do, it's a little different than usual. For instance, we use full armor, all weapons and magical items are allowed, and people use fart arrows."

"Fart arrows?" Clint questioned eagerly. "Tony," he said, immediately turning to him once I had nodded my head. "You have to make me fart arrows."

"We'll see, Featherhead. I have to finish that upgrade on the helicarrier first or else Nicky dear is going to blow a gasket." Tony shook his head. "That man needs to relax. But enough about Fury, let's talk about you." He pointed at me. "We don't know anything about you. Normally, I would go hack into your file over at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, but all I got was that you blew up the Saint Louis Arch. And that wasn't even you."

I laughed, thinking back on that quest. "How about I tell you guys about my first year as a demigod?"

"That seems good to me," Thor declared in his typical louder-than-normal voice.

So, between bites of pizza, I told them about getting to camp and having to go on a quest soon after to get the Zeus' master bolt or else the gods would start World War III. They looked surprised when I told them about my impromptu skydive off of the Saint Louis Arch.

"How did you survive that?" Tony asked. "You should have splatted on impact."

I chuckled. "Believe me, I knew that when I jumped. But it was either that, or get eaten by the giant not-Chihuahua dog. Not to mention I had deadly poison running through my veins and was going to die any second, anyway. The water actually cushioned my fall. And on top of that," I added, taking a slice of cheese pizza and putting it on my plate, "it healed me from the poison. Sweet deal, huh?"

"Except then you became a fugitive that the authorities were looking for," Natasha pointed out.

I winced. "Yeah, except for that."

I went on to explain the Underworld trip, my fight with Ares, and returning the bolt to Zeus.

"You should've seen the guy's face that was running the counter at the Empire State Building. He said that Zeus didn't accept visitors without a scheduled meeting. So I unzipped the book bag and showed it to him." I laughed, remembering how pale his face had gotten. "He got white as a sheet, and I asked him if he wanted me to take it out and show him how it worked, and he practically shoved the key into my face."

"I still can't believe that the gods live on Olympus. Which is on the 600th floor of the Empire State Building." Steve shook his head.

"It's a lot to process at one time. Imagine seeing it for the first time. I thought I was going to fall through."

"So you found out you were a demigod when you were twelve? That's kind of young." Tony scratched his head. "Or is that the new age they're forming heroes?"

I shrugged. "That's actually a middle age. My girlfriend Annabeth ran away from home when she was seven and came to Camp Half-Blood then. She's been there the longest."

Bruce let out a whistle. "Geez, that's young."

"Yeah. Some demigods don't make it to camp, either."

Clint frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean they get attacked by a monster, or they just die. That's why we have satyrs to go out and get them before the monsters can. They're protectors." I sighed. "Wow, this is good." I took another bit out of my pizza, chewing contently. "Okay, so anyway, they go out and get them, bring them to Camp Half-Blood. We train them, give them a home. They make friends, and stuff like that. If they want to, they can go out into the world and try and be normal. You know, go to school and come back during the summer. Or they could stay there year round."

"What did you do?" Thor asked, interested.

"I tried to be a normal demigod. Something always happened for me to get kicked out, usually. Then I went to high school, and I managed not to get kicked out for once. I still got attacked, of course, but I didn't get blamed for it, which was a nice change."

"You chose school over camp?" Bruce asked, impressed.

"I did it for my mom, mostly." I smiled at the thought of her. "She's the best mom ever. She's dealt with me all her life with no complaint. So, of course, she worries when I go away too long, so I would live with her during the school year. Sometimes I would have to go to camp for a small emergency, but I would always come back."

I polished off the piece of pizza I had been nibbling on for a while and sighed. "Well, that's about it for now. If I told you my whole life story, we would be here all night. And morning." I stretched my arms over my head for a second, listening to the cracks and creaks of my muscles. "Besides, then you would know everything about me. You would know everything about me." I smiled. "How boring would that be?"

Tony smiled. "So until next story time, then. You better tell us about the wars like you promised." He yawned. "I think I'm gonna go to bed now. I haven't slept in thirty-six hours." He yawned again and got up to walk out of the room. "Night, guys. Let Jarvis know if you need anything during the night, Percy." He said on his way out. "I will," I told him as a chorus of goodnights followed him out of the room.

I yawned, too. Steve smiled. "I think it's bedtime for the whole team."

Clint rolled his eyes. "Fine, Dad."

Natasha smirked. "You better go before he grounds you. Again."

Clint groaned. "That was terrible. I couldn't shoot my bow for three whole days."

I smiled and walked out of the kitchen to my room. I changed into what I usually slept in: shorts and an old, slightly too big t-shirt. I brushed my teeth and crawled into bed. I laid my head down on the pillow and hoped that I would get to sleep through the night for once.

**A/N: That's it! I hope you liked it. Drop me a review and tell me what you thought. Or maybe even what I could improve upon? That would be great. So, anyway, I'll see you guys in Chapter Six!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I'm sorry! I was going to post this on Wednesday, but I couldn't because our Wi-Fi went out. Something starting with an "m" broke, and we couldn't get the thing that fixed it until now. So I'm sorry, and to make it up to you guys, I made this chapter really long. So enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Nope. Both the Avengers and Percy Jackson belong to someone else, unfortunately.**

* * *

Chapter Six

Of course, I knew what was going to happen as soon as I fell asleep. The same thing that had been happening ever since the war had ended. Nightmares. Some of the demigod dreams I had had earlier on during the First War were pretty bad, but they didn't usually have anything on these nightmares. I'm not sure if these nightmares came from being in Tartarus or just from everything that I'd gone through in general. All I knew was that I had them, and they supposedly should have been getting better with time. I was still waiting for that little fact to take effect.

These are some of the many reasons I wasn't even remotely surprised when I woke up later that night drenched in sweat and gasping for air. I groaned, still feeling the after-effects of the nightmare when I looked over at the clock. It read 1:47 A.M. I groaned again. I had barely slept three hours.

"Do you require any assistance, sir?" a voice said. I sprang up from the bed and looked around wildly, still partly in the nightmare. The lights came on slowly. "It's just me, sir. Jarvis. Do you need something?"

I wiped a hand over my face and let Jarvis' cool voice wash over me. I sighed and tilted my head up toward the ceiling. "No thanks, Jarvis. I'm fine." I looked around, noticing the lights were on dim and not all the way on like normal. "I guess you're almost an expert in treating nightmares, huh? It looks like you've got a lot of experience." I don't know why I was asking Jarvis this. It probably wasn't even my business, but I needed to talk to someone about _something. _I needed to ground myself with something that was _real. _

"Yes, everyone in this building does have the occasional nightmare," he answered. Maybe he knew that how much I needed to talk to someone right now. He did have experience, after all.

I hesitated on my next question. "Did the . . . frequency of their nightmares get better over time? Like, when they all moved in together here. Did they kind of start going away?" I was hopeful on this. If theirs had mostly gone away, maybe mine could mostly go away, too.

"Over the weeks, the nightmares have become less frequent than when the others first moved here." Jarvis paused for a moment. "Will you be going back to sleep, sir?"

I sighed again. "No, Jarvis. I don't think I'll be able to." I thought back on the nightmare and could only remember faint snatches of it: darkness, falling, blood, and pain. Not to mention, all the bodies of the people that I had even vaguely knew that died in both the wars I had participated in. I shuddered. "Definitely a no on that one, Jarvis. But you could help me with something."

"Like what, sir?" Jarvis asked, sounding almost curious.

"Where's the nearest pool in this building?"

"It's about thirteen floors below you. If you walk to the elevator, I will route it to go to the floor with the pool."

"That would be great, Jarvis," I said, feeling relieved that this tower had a pool. This would make things a lot easier to deal with. "Thanks."

"I'm happy to help you, sir," Jarvis said quieter than usual. I got the feeling that he meant what he said.

I walked over to my door silently and opened it slowly, making sure it wouldn't squeak. I crept down the hall as quietly as I could. When I finally reached the elevator, it opened without a sound. I entered, and after the doors shut behind me, I sighed in relief. It was a lot harder to sneak past two master assassins than some harpies over at camp.

Jarvis informed me we were on the floor, and I immediately strode over to the pool. It, like almost everything else in this tower, was huge. If I had to guess, it must have been about the size of three quarters of a football field. I dipped a hand into the pool, and immediately felt calmer. I stripped off my shirt and was about to jump in when I remembered something.

"Jarvis, I can breathe underwater, so don't get worried when I don't come up for air." It would be just my luck to have sneaked past the Avengers only to have Jarvis alert them when it seemed like I was drowning myself.

"Okay, sir. Would you like me to notify you when the first person wakes up?" he asked helpfully.

"Yeah. Um, you can just flash the pool lights and I'll come up and you can tell me. Is that okay?" I thought that would work. Jarvis could easily get my attention that way.

"That sounds fine, sir. If the team asks where you are, I am obligated to tell them you are here," he said.

"That's okay, I would do the same thing," I told him. I got that he had to be truthful to his creator at all times. It didn't matter if they found me. It's a natural environment for a son of Poseidon and would seem perfectly normal to them. Hopefully. "Bye, Jarvis."

"Goodbye, sir."

I dove into the refreshing water and didn't stop swimming until I got to the bottom of the pool. I lay down at the bottom and sighed. Much better than the cramped bedroom. I closed my eyes and put my hands behind my head. Time for some serious thinking.

I thought about my friends back at camp. I wondered if they had nightmares like I did. Probably. You can't go through what we did and _not _have them. It was very likely. I hoped for their sake theirs weren't anything like mine.

I tentatively thought back to my nightmares. What was causing them? They should have died down at least a little bit by now. Instead, it was just the same as the week after the war. I needed to find the root of my problems. I figured that if I found that and solved it, these nightmares would let up, even if just a little bit. I wanted to fall asleep at night just once and sleep the whole night through. I'd been feeling more and more tired lately, and I knew one day I was going to drop from exhaustion during something important. Like a battle against that thing that Dad said was rising.

What did he mean? I knew I physically couldn't deal with another war if it was going to give me even more nightmares than I was already experiencing right now. It would drive me insane. Literally. But I had to try. The gods had said the Avengers needed my help, so it had to be serious.

I decided after a while of stewing over these thoughts that I was done with it. I wanted to think about the happy times, so I dropped all the serious and depressing thoughts and focused on imagining the good things that had happened to me instead. They were much better to think about, anyway.

I thought about me and Annabeth, and my other friends. I wondered what forest Grover was saving right now. Or where Thalia was with her other hunter friends. Or what everyone was going to be doing at camp today.

I must have dozed off somewhere around that thought because the next thing I knew, Jarvis was flashing me with the pool lights. I swam to the surface and saw Tony standing there. "Hi," he greeted. "Before you go getting irritated at Jarvis, I made him keep me coming a secret. He didn't sound like he was too happy with me sneaking up on you."

I shook my head. "Nah, it's fine. It was about time for me to get out anyway."

Tony tilted his head to the right. "Hope you don't mind me asking, but, uh, how long were you at the bottom of the pool?"

I smiled briefly at his curiosity before asking, "What time is it?"

He glanced up at the ceiling. "J?"

"7:53, sir."

"Well, in that case," I tried to think out the math. "I got here around two o' clock?" I scrunched up my face as Tony's eyes widened and flashed with something. It disappeared before I could figure out what it was. "So that makes it a grand total of . . . about six hours? Give or take a few minutes?" I shrugged.

"You were at the bottom of a pool for six hours?" he asked with a slight smile on his lips.

"I guess I should get out." I pulled myself out of the pool and went to grab my shirt.

"Holy crap," I heard Tony say behind me.

"What?" I turned to face him. It didn't look like anything was wrong in the room, so I was confused as to why he was "holy crapping" me.

His hand made feeble gestures at me. He laughed in disbelief. "Okay, so first you go _fish mode _and breathe underwater for _six hours. _Not to mention the water pressure didn't even faze you. And now you get out of the water completely dry. That is _awesome. _How did you do that?" he asked eagerly, like a kid wondering how a magician made a bunny appear out of his hat.

I grinned at him. "Perks of being a son of Poseidon." I pulled my shirt on over my head.

"Anything else you can do? Some other cool water powers I should know about?"

I rubbed my chin. "Let's see. Oh, big one: I can control water. In every way, shape, or form, I think. Um . . . I can talk to all sea creatures and understand them. Same thing with horses. I like blue food?" I said, unsure if he counted that. "I think that's it. Well, I can make my own personal hurricane around me. I can be healed by the water. And I'm working on being able to heal other people with water, too. Oh, and I can vapor travel to nearby places."

"Kid, you know you're going to have to show me all of these powers, right?" Tony's eyes were shining like Leo's do when he's about to build something crazy.

"Yeah, sure," I laughed. "But not all in the same day because it makes me tired."

"Sure, sure. Oh my gosh, Bruce is going to be so excited. This is awesome. I could build things taking after your fishy powers." I could tell Tony was starting to talk to himself. "I'd probably need to draw up completely new plans on the—"

I cut him off before he could confuse me even more. "Yeah, okay. Cool. Now I'm going to go to the kitchen to get something to eat."

He smirked. "You know, between you, Steve, Thor, and Bruce, the city's not going to have enough food left to feed the other citizens. You four are going to be eating it all."

I blushed. "Totally not my fault I eat a lot. I got a lot to feed." Tony was still smiling smugly.

"Yeah, whatever. Come on, Nemo." He started to walk away. I grinned evilly.

I concentrated and felt the familiar pull in my gut. I suspended the water above Tony's head and made sure not to drip any on him. I leaned casually against the nearest wall. "Sorry, what was that, Tony?"

He turned around to say something when he noticed me smiling. I raised an eyebrow and flicked my eyes to above his head. He brought his eyes up slowly. I saw both of his eyebrows shoot up. "What is that?"

"That," I said, pushing myself off the wall, "Is twenty gallons of water that is going to go fall on the others to wake them up. They'll probably be understandably upset and want to hurt you. Severely. I can't imagine the Hulk being too pleased with you when I tell him that it was your fault that Bruce woke up like that. Natasha and Clint will _definitely _kill you. They look the type." I examined my hands. "I could put it back in the pool, though, if you want."

Tony gulped, probably imagining how much Natasha would kill him if I woke her up like this. "All this because I called you Nemo? I'd hate to see someone who really ticks you off."

I shrugged one shoulder. "It isn't pretty. At all."

Tony winced, knowing he'd been beat. "Alright, fine. You win this time. Watch your back, Jackson."

I was about to smirk, but then I felt something. It was nervousness. From Tony? I immediately put the water back in the pool. I frowned when I saw Tony's shoulders relax almost imperceptibly. Was Tony uncomfortable around water? I opened my mouth to say something but was interrupted when Steve came into the room.

"Hey, guys," Steve greeted. If he noticed something was going on, he didn't comment. "Me and Bruce made some pancakes and some smoothies. We were wondering if you guys wanted some?" He tilted the end of the sentence up a pitch to make it a question.

"Yeah, sure, Spangles. We'll follow you in a sec." Steve rolled his eyes at the nickname but didn't make a retort. He was obviously used to it. He walked out of the room.

Tony turned to me. "Okay, a few reminders before you go in there." He made it sound like I was entering a war zone. For all I knew, I probably was. "One: Natasha and Clint are pretty grumpy in the morning until they get some coffee and food. So don't say good morning to them unless you want Clint to start asking you why it's such a good morning." Tony rolled his eyes. "He's so depressed-punk-teenage-boy in the morning. Ah," he said looking sheepish. "No offense."

"None taken," I said dismissively.

"Number two," Tony continued, "is that Bruce is kind of jumpy in the mornings. I don't know why, he just is. So try not to sneak up on him. Rule numero three: don't ever eat the last pop tart. Thor gets this kicked puppy look if you do, and it's terrible." Tony shook his head. "It makes you want to go out and buy him all pop tarts in the world just to get him to stop." He snorted abruptly. "And if you see him yelling at the toaster, help him out. He still doesn't really get 'Midgardian witchcraft.'" Tony put air quotes around it. I chuckled.

"And finally," Tony said with a flourish of his hands, "almost everything is available in the kitchen to you at all times of day. The exceptions being the things that I so helpfully labeled. Don't do whatever the label says not to do." He shuddered. He looked like he was replaying a bad memory in his mind. "And don't _ever _eat Natasha's cereal. Not unless you want to die a slow, painful death."

He clapped his hands together and smiled. "That's not too bad, right? Of course it isn't," Tony answered his own question before I could even open my mouth. "Come on, Aquaman. Time to eat. You're always hungry, anyway."

I followed behind him to the elevator while I protested. "I do _not _eat all of the time. I'm always busy doing something, so that's why I'm hungry. Besides," I said as we got into the elevator and he pushed the Avengers' Floor button, "I need to eat so I can get enough energy stored up to show you a few of my magic tricks." The elevator dinged.

Tony looked over at me as we stepped off the elevator. "Seriously? You'll do it today?" I nodded my head, and he grinned eagerly again. "Do you mind if the others watch? They might get jealous if they aren't included." Tony smirked.

I shrugged. "I don't care. It isn't going to mess me up or anything, so I don't have a problem with it." As we neared the kitchen, I could smell the delicious aromas drifting out. I sighed and felt my mouth watering.

"Just like Steve," Tony muttered to himself. "Always hungry."

I rolled my eyes but didn't say anything because we were at the kitchen. There were three huge stacks of pancakes and three containers of smoothies. "Oh my gosh," I moaned. "This smells so good."

Tony glanced over at me and grinned. "You act like you've never smelled pancakes before," he said as we walked over to fill our plates. Bruce, Thor, and Steve were already sitting down eating. Clint and Natasha had just shuffled in, looking very ruffled from sleep. They still managed to look a little intimidating.

"The last time I had anything like this for breakfast was probably six months ago," I told him distractedly as I picked out which pancakes I wanted. Bruce and Steve had cooked three kinds: blueberry, chocolate chip, and plain. I decided on one of each. I chose a cup from the small stack and poured some smoothie into it.

"What do you mean?" Tony sounded baffled.

"I mean that my camp doesn't really serve junk food," I said. I took a seat next to Bruce. I remembered that I didn't have a fire to sacrifice any food to the gods and shrugged mentally. I would talk to Dad about it later.

"What kind of food do you guys serve then?" Bruce asked.

"Please don't tell me it's a bunch of bunny food. You aren't a vegetarian are you?" Tony asked suddenly. He looked horrified at the thought.

Bruce rolled his eyes. "Tony, there isn't anything wrong with being a vegetarian. You're going to hurt his feelings if he is one." He looked up at me and adjusted his glasses. "Do you eat meat?"

"Of _course _I do. What I meant was that out camp usually only serves lean, healthy meat. There's no fat whatsoever on it." I sighed when I put a bite of the chocolate chip pancake in my mouth and it practically melted. "Besides, I ate some of the supreme pizza last night. That had meat on it."

Tony scratched at his goatee. "That's right."

I ignored him in favor of eating the rest of my chocolate chip pancake and plain pancake. I had just started on my blueberry one when Tony spoke up.

"So, guys. Aquadude here said he would show us some of his powers." Tony waggled his eyebrows. "This is going to be so awesome."

Bruce sighed. "Tony, I hope you haven't threatened him to get him to do this. He didn't, right?" Bruce asked half-way serious.

I widened my eyes and gave everyone my best puppy-dog-eyes that I learned from watching Annabeth. "He said I could only have breakfast and lunch," I said innocently. I turned to Tony who was looking at me incredulously. "Can I have supper tonight if I do my tricks? I'm always hungry, like you say." I tried to hold in my laughter just a few seconds more to wait for what someone else would say. It was Steve who spoke up first.

"Tony, am I going to have to ground you again from your workshop?" He asked disapprovingly. I could tell he was joking by the way his eyes sparkled.

Tony groaned. "Are you kidding me? That was terrible. You know, technically, I'm older than you," Tony pointed out. "I should be grounding _you._"

That didn't sound right. What did Tony mean by "technically?" I frowned. "What do you mean?" I asked Tony.

Tony looked at me strangely for a minute, then his expression cleared. "That's right, you don't know. Well," He hesitated, looking back at Steve for a second. "Steve isn't from this time."

He waited for that to sink in. I didn't know what he was waiting for. Maybe for me to tell him that he was wrong? "Okay, and? How'd it happen?"

"Geez," Tony let out a gust of air. "You just can't get one up on this guy. Does anything surprise you?" he asked me. "How about I've got a piece of machine keeping me alive? And it's _in me?" _He lifted up one of the shirts he was wearing and tapped the machine through his undershirt. It was glowing a light blue. He sighed at my distinctly unsurprised expression. "Oh, come on."

I smiled. "I've seen a lot of stuff. It's going to take a lot to surprise me because chances are," I shrugged a shoulder, "I've probably already seen it or heard of it." I made a motion with my hand over my pancake—a "carry on" gesture.

"Well back then," Clint started after a moment since Tony didn't, "Steve here sacrificed himself to save the world, basically. Only, he didn't die."

"I actually froze. And when I woke up, they told me that it was 2012." Steve winced. "I didn't take it too well."

"I guess not." I wrinkled my face up in thought. "You had to leave everything behind?" I shook my head a little. "I can't even imagine."

"It is indeed a terrible fate. But I suppose things could be worse," Thor said from where he was trying to operate the syrup bottle. He was failing terribly and getting syrup all over his hands in the process.

"Um, try turning it upside down and opening the clasp. Then you squeeze it," I explained. When he tried it, syrup came out onto his pancake. He smiled at me. "Thank you, Perseus—I mean, Percy," he corrected himself as he tried unsuccessfully to wipe the sticky syrup off his hands.

"So if you see me staring at something, it's probably because I don't know what it is," Steve finished up smiling slightly. "Or how it works."

"But he's doing much better from when he first started," Natasha said.

"You know," I said, "I have a friend who isn't from this time either. It's a long story, but he's about fifteen right now. I don't know if he remembers anything since he got his memory wiped when he was little, but still." I smiled. "You know, I actually used to have another friend who was from back then, but . . ." My smile faded a little. "Well, anyway, you should meet him. He's kind of emo, though. Son of Hades, and all that." I rolled my eyes.

Steve looked at me and smiled warmly. "I would love to meet him."

"I'm sure he'd love to meet you, too," I told him.

"Okay, Percy." Tony scratched absently at his shoulder while looking at me. "When do you want to do the whole power display thing?"

"We can do it now, if you guys aren't busy," I said. "It doesn't matter to me."

"Wait a minute. Are you still wearing your PJ's, Percy?" Tony snickered.

I looked down at my clothes. "You better believe it. This is the image that makes all monsters run to their mommies. Look and be afraid," I said seriously.

"Whatever, Ariel the Mermaid. Go and change. Meet us at the pool."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Okay," I said, feeling a little awkward at everyone staring at me. They were standing back a several feet from the pool, and I was standing in the middle of the pool on the water. "Uh, what do I do?"

"Just do what you would normally do if you were at camp practicing," Bruce said in his usual calm voice. He adjusted his glasses.

"You better not get me all wet," Tony said.

"If I do, I can dry you again right after. Chill," I told him. "Okay, I'll start now."

"Record, Jarvis," I heard Tony say.

I closed my eyes to concentrate. Just do what I would normally do if I was at camp, I told myself. I drew in a deep breath, and I felt the standard pull in my gut. I thought back to the First War and how I created the mini-hurricane around me. Here goes nothing, I thought.

When I opened my eyes, I felt huge winds and tons of rain steadily pouring down. I made sure to keep the rain away from the team. The only difference between this hurricane and the one from the war was that this one was _way _bigger. If I were to set loose this storm somewhere, I could actually hurt someone. I smiled; it had been a long time since I had practiced with my powers. It was strangely relaxing and tension-relieving.

I looked over to the Avengers. They were staring with mildly shocked and impressed faces. "You aren't getting too wet, right?" I yelled over the storm after about five minutes of manipulating it. They shook their heads.

I slowly brought the storm down to nothing. I didn't want to use all my energy up; I'm sure the team wanted to see something else besides that.

I laughed, feeling the adrenaline-high. "I really should have been doing this more," I said to myself.

"What's next, guys?"

For the next forty-five minutes, I twirled water, froze it, made more small storms, and a bunch of other stuff. By the end of the session, I was exhausted, but satisfied. I felt more relaxed than I had felt in a long time.

"I hope we didn't tire you out too much, Percy," Steve said, slightly guilty.

"Well, yeah, you did," I admitted. "But in a good way. I didn't know how much I needed that. Are you guys wet?" I asked. They shrugged. "Just a little," Bruce confessed. "It's not a big deal or anythi—"

I cut him off as I turned the water on their skin and clothes into a gaseous state. Natasha quirked a smile. "Thanks, Percy."

"Yeah. Thanks for the little water show, too," Tony added. "It was pretty freaking awesome, I must say."

I grinned. "What can I say? I got it from my dad." I pulled at my sticky clothes. "Gross. I'm going to go change real quick. And get some food," I amended as my stomach growled.

"We'll meet you in the kitchen. I'm kind of hungry, too," Steve said. Tony rolled his eyes behind Steve and looked at me in an I-told-you-so way. "What did I tell you?" Tony pointed at Steve. "This guy is _always _hungry. 'Course he has a metabolism that's about forty billion times faster than a normal human's?"

"Forty billion?" I asked incredulously. "That's amazing!"

Tony rolled his eyes again as Clint snickered behind him.

Thor decided to speak up. "While that was a very exciting display of power, I find that I am also hungry. You certainly exceed what is told of you in Asgard." Thor beamed at me.

"Thanks," I told him, blushing a faint pink. "Okay, I seriously have to get out of these clothes. I'm water resistant, not sweat resistant."

"We'll meet you in the kitchen in ten minutes," Natasha said.

"Sounds good."

As I walked back to my room, I thought about my relationship with the Avengers. I treated them just like . . . well, my friends back at camp. People sometimes forgot that superheroes are humans. Not counting Thor, that is. They did normal human things like getting in a fight over who was going to have the last pancake or who got to press the button on the elevator. (Natasha ended up winning that one.) Maybe that was why I felt comfortable teasing them and eating half of the last pancake when they weren't looking. Everyone was so accepting of everything, and I got the feeling that they wouldn't tolerate someone on the team getting hurt. They would do anything to protect each other.

I smiled. Maybe the gods _did _know what they were talking about every once in a while.

**A/N: *looks at results of this story and does a double take* Oh my GOSH! *proceeds to fall out of chair* You guys are amazing! I've got tons of favorites, follows, and reviews, and I'm so excited! I've gotten over 5,000 views on this whole story, and this is only my sixth chapter. So thanks a bunch! Leave me a review and tell me what you thought. Maybe tell me some things that I could improve upon? Anyway, see you in Chapter Seven!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Wow, you don't realize how much you use Wi-Fi until it's gone! So happy to have mine back and give you guys more chapters! Woo! **

**Disclaimer: I didn't own them back in Chapter One, and I still don't own the characters now. Dang it.**

* * *

Chapter Seven

"Uh, guys?" Six pairs of eyes swiveled to meet mine. "What exactly are you doing?"

The kitchen was a mess. Apparently, there looked like there was some kind of explosion in the microwave because it was smoking and slightly black. Steve was trying to help Thor, who had butter and bits of kernels and popcorn all over him. Natasha was eating popcorn on a barstool next to Bruce, who was just staring at the mess smiling. Clint had Tony in a loose headlock while Tony was pointing a spatula at his neck.

Tony blew a piece of popcorn out of his face. "We're making popcorn, obviously."

"Uh-huh. Sure," I said, looking around the room. "And what exactly happened while you were making the popcorn?"

"Well, from what I could see," Natasha said, plucking another piece of popcorn out of her bowl, "Clint tried to put three bags of popcorn in at the same time because he 'couldn't wait that long.' Then he accidently left a fork in there, so it exploded." She smacked Bruce's hand as he tried to snatch some popcorn from her bowl. He looked at her, then took some anyway. She rolled her eyes. "So of course it got everywhere."

"You left out the part where Clint and Tony started fighting," Bruce said absentmindedly as he tried to grab more popcorn. "Tony got mad at Clint because that was the last of the popcorn or whatever." Bruce shrugged and looked over at where Steve had given up trying to help Thor. "Thor didn't know what that stuff was all over him, so Steve tried to get it off him. Didn't work too well."

"Tasha, can I have some popcorn?" Clint asked her as he let go of Tony. Natasha shook her head and continued eating. Clint frowned. "Come on, please?"

"Nope," she said, popping the "p."

"It seems we should have just eaten the delicious tarts that pop," Thor said seriously as he tried to wipe butter and kernels off his clothes.

"We'll eat that now, Pointbreak. You think you could put some in the toaster for us?" Tony asked as he dug in the cabinets and tossed Thor a pack.

"I will try," Thor promised.

"I'm surprised," I said. "I didn't know you guys could do all of this in just ten minutes. All I did was go take a shower."

"You would be surprised." Steve went over to the sink and washed his hands. "Especially where Clint and Tony are concerned."

Clint huffed. "Please, Steve. I'm not the one who pressed the emergency stop on the elevator."

Steve blushed scarlet. "I didn't know it would stop the whole elevator and sirens would come on."

"I didn't know that people could run that fast when they saw the Avengers." Tony shuddered. "I thought those girls were going to tear us apart with their nails."

"Nah," Natasha said in a bored tone. "They probably would have just taken you home and locked you in their basement as a trophy." She got up and tossed her bowl into the sink.

"Hey, Percy?" Bruce asked, obviously trying to change the subject.

"Yeah?" I said.

The toaster _dinged _cheerily and Thor jumped about a foot in the air. "Great Odin, that scared me!"

"Gets you every time, Thor," Clint laughed.

"I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions?" Bruce asked tentatively.

I shrugged. "Yeah, sure. Ask away."

The others attention was fixed on me as Thor put in some more poptarts and started munching on the two he had already toasted.

Bruce pointed at Roman tattoo on my bicep. "What's that?"

"That," I said, "is what the Romans put on your arm when you become a part of their camp." I rubbed my arm at the memory. "They kind of burn this on your arm, and it tells your rank and status."

Bruce frowned. "I thought you were Greek," he said at the same time Clint said, "They _burned _that on your arm?"

I nodded. "It hurt like Hades. And I am Greek," I said, looking at Bruce. "But I got my memory completely wiped one day by the goddess Hera." I rolled my eyes. "So I was chased there by a pair of Gorgons that _would not stay dead. _So I had to enter their camp and go on a quest to free Death. Of course, I didn't exactly _know _I was Greek. So the Romans were kind of suspicious of me."

"Sorry, did you just say that you went on a quest to _free Death?"_ Tony asked incredulously.

"Yeah." I shifted where I stood and then took a seat. Tony and Clint came to the table and sat down. Thor stayed behind and manned the toaster. "It's a long story."

"You didn't remember a single thing?" Natasha asked.

"Well," I rubbed the back of my neck, "I could only remember my girlfriend, Annabeth. That's it."

Thor jumped again as the toaster dinged. "This is your young friend who aided you on many of your adventures, correct?"

"Right," I confirmed. "So after the quest, an army came to the camp, and me and my two friends Hazel and Frank had to stop them. Me and this god who controlled the borders helped defeat the giant that was meant to be the downfall of Poseidon. Meaning my dad and the giant were complete opposites." I reached for the poptart Thor held out to me and took a bite out of it. "Mmm, S'mores. Thanks. Anyway, after that they made me praetor, or leader of the camp. Of course, I gave it back to Jason when he got back."

"Because you were already leader of the Greek camp, right?" Bruce asked.

"Yeah. So, these things are pretty permanent." I pointed to the tattoo. "But I don't mind. It's kind of a reminder that Greeks and Romans _can _actually get along."

"What do you mean?" Natasha grabbed a poptart from the toaster.

"The Greek demigods and the Roman demigods didn't know about each other until me and Jason, the leaders of both camps, went missing." I sighed. "A long time ago when we knew each other, we got in this huge fight, and we killed a lot of demigods. It's why the gods kept us separated." I crunched on my poptart some more. "But we had to work together to stop this war. Which was pretty hard, if you can imagine." I made a face. "Especially when some people do _not _want to cooperate."

I thought of Octavian. Thank the gods I didn't usually have to see him; unless it was an inter-camp meeting. I still couldn't believe that he had managed to weasel his way out of getting killed by Clarisse or another hot-tempered Greek.

"Believe it or not," Steve said, "the Avengers got off to a rough start."

"Trust me," I told them, "it's weird if a team of people don't disagree. Unless you already know them, of course. It's almost like you get closer by arguing with them or something."

Tony considered this for a moment, then nodded. "Sounds about right." He clapped his hands together. "Alright, well, as much as I would love to prolong this little team bonding thing," he said, "I gotta get to my workshop and look at those videos of Mermaid Man." He pointed vaguely in my direction. "I think I might have a few new ideas. You know," Tony grimaced, "after I finish those helicarrier plans." He sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "Oh my gosh, those are no fun _whatsoever. _Fury won't let me do anything cool with them! I might just sneak some stuff in there, anyway."

Clint's eyes brightened. "Do it, Tony." He grinned. "Or you could at least do it in the one I always drive. I love new toys."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know." He looked around at the rest of us. "I'll see you guys when I get hungry enough to come here again."

"I'll come with you," Bruce said standing up. "I need to do some work. Besides, you need a babysitter at all times."

Natasha smirked. "Got that right."

"I'll probably be in the gym or in my room," Steve said, quietly excusing himself.

Thor frowned. "I suppose I could find something to do." He walked out the room.

Natasha looked at me. "What are you going to do?"

I shrugged. "I'll probably talk to my dad and my girlfriend. Or something like that."

Natasha tilted her head to the side slightly. "I thought demigods can't use electronics like that."

I smiled. "We can't. Tell Tony not to freak out when a high-energy being appears out of nowhere in his building. It's just my dad."

"That still doesn't explain how you're going to contact your girlfriend," Natasha pointed out.

"I'll explain IM-ing to you guys later," I promised. "And no, it doesn't stand for Instant Messaging."

Natasha gave me a small smile. "Have fun."

"I'm sure I will."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Um, Dad?" I asked tentatively into the air. "Could you, uh, come down? I want to talk to you. Please?" I wasn't sure if this was how you were supposed to call the gods or what. I didn't have to do some kind ritual, right?

"I was expecting this call," said a voice behind me. I turned around. "I didn't know when you would do it though." My dad grinned. "It's about time."

"So that's how it works. I just call one of your names out loud and you come to me?" I said.

My dad shrugged. "Something like that. You know, we gods can actually feel when someone says our name."

"Really?" I asked, surprised.

"Yes," my dad confirmed. "We can mostly tune out the mortals and what they're saying. We try and just focus in our attention to our children."

I winced. "That must be pretty annoying for Zeus and Hades. We kind of use their names a lot."

Poseidon chuckled. "I don't hear enough of how the demigods should stop saying their names like that because they'll never know when someone actually needs something."

"Force of habit."

"So anyway, yes, we can feel when you say our names. And we can really feel it when someone talks directly to us."

I cocked my head to the side. "What do you mean that you can feel it?"

My dad looked like he was trying to find the right words to describe the feeling. "It's like someone's poking you in your brain, I suppose."

"That's kind of cool."

My dad smiled again. "Well, as much as I like talking to you about this, I'm sure you didn't call me to ask me if I can feel you talking to me."

I felt my cheeks heat up. "Uh, no. You said that there was something big coming up. Well," I said, "you didn't technically tell me, but you told Nick Fury." I paused, thinking of something. "Wait a minute, you told him _that, _but you didn't tell him what I was? Seriously?"

Dad tried to fight a grin. "My apologies. I must have forgotten that detail."

I rolled my eyes. "That's not a detail, Dad. That's my life. You guys _so _did that on purpose. I knew it." I huffed a breath. "But I guess I'll have to let it go. Now, what exactly did you tell Fury?" I asked curiously. "About some kind of thing rising?"

My dad grimaced. "Here's the thing, Percy: that's all I told him. And that's all I'm able to tell you."

"What?"

"I wish I could tell you more." He sighed. "The Fates won't allow it. It's not like we gods know what's really going on right now, either. We just know it's something big and evil."

I swallowed. "Like how evil? On a scale of Tartarus to Gaea?"

"Well . . ." Thunder rumbled. Poseidon sighed in frustration. "And that's my warning. I'm sorry, Percy. I wish I could tell you what I know. But I can tell you that you need to be prepared." He looked at me seriously. "Be ready for anything." Thunder crashed again outside. Dad rolled his eyes. "I'm coming!" He said in the direction of the ceiling. He turned his eyes back to me. "I'll see you later, son." He laid a hand on my shoulder. "Don't get yourself hurt." I averted my eyes, and he flashed out.

"Why does everyone think I'm going to get myself hurt and or killed?" I grumbled to myself as I fished a drachma out of my pocket. I went into the bathroom and created a mist with the water from the sink. I flipped a coin into it, but the coin came back out and smacked me in the face. I rubbed my cheek as an image of Lacey appeared in the mist. "You don't have to pay," she told me. "I think you've paid enough. These little messages of yours will be on me."

"Thanks," I said. "It's nice to see you again, Lacey. Could you connect me to Annabeth at Camp Half-Blood, please?"

"Of course."

An image of Camp Half-Blood immediately came into view. A head popped up from a messy desk as Annabeth's cabin came into view. Blonde curls framed her tan face and I saw her stormy grey eyes light up as she saw me. "Percy!"

I grinned. "Hey, Wise Girl! Finally cleaning that messy desk before your cabin gets a bad time for showers because of you?"

"Ha-ha, Percy. And no, I'm working on this new plan for one of the rooms in Olympus. Well, it's not exactly a room, but you know what I mean," she said. She straightened and sat on the chair nearest to her. "So what's up?"

We talked about everything that's happened to me, and I brought up the thing me and my dad had talked about.

"What do you think it is?" I asked her.

She shrugged, her eyes showing that she was thinking a million miles a minute. "I honestly have no clue, Percy. I thought we had taken care of everything. I thought we could finally get a break." She shook her head. "How about I try to look into things and let you know?" she asked.

"That sounds great." I was relieved to have her watching my back again. Figuratively, that is. "I'll talk to you later. Okay?"

"Yeah, sure. IM me anytime. I should be available," she told me. She smiled. "I think Leo and the others would probably want to see you soon, anyway. Of course, they'll probably want to see you with the Avengers."

I laughed. "I'll make sure you guys get to meet them. See you later." She smiled and I waved my hand through the image.

"Sir?" Jarvis said. "The team needs you. They said come to the kitchen quickly."

I hurried out the door. "What's the matter?"

"They seem to have received a major energy reading. They think you might know something about it," he explained.

When I arrived in the kitchen, the Avengers were focused at a screen Tony had up. It looked like a bunch of swirling numbers and words. The bright letters were killer on my dyslexia. I squinted at the screen, trying to make sense of it. "What does this mean?"

"You can't read it?" Tony asked without looking over at me.

"All demigods have dyslexia. To me, it might as well be German."

"Learn something new every day," Tony said while typing rapidly on the holographic keyboard. "These are serious readings of energy coming from downtown New York."

"How serious?" I asked.

"Serious enough for at least a couple of the Avengers to check it out," Bruce said, staring anxiously at the screen. "We think you should be one of them."

"Really?" I said, shocked. I was a newbie, after all.

"Yeah," Tony said distractedly. "You know the most about what's going on, anyway. It could be something to do with people like you." He highlighted a view numbers. "We haven't decided which one of us should come with you."

"We were thinking Thor or Steve," Clint said.

"It doesn't matter to me," I said. "If you're asking, that is. I'd be happy to have either one of them."

"I believe I should stay here and see if a word or sign from Odin comes from this news," Thor said gravely.

"Steve it is, then." Clint looked at the screen for a second, then pulled back.

"Percy, do you have any idea what this could be?" Tony asked me. "Anything you could have would help a lot right now."

"Well," I said, thinking hard. "It could just be a group of monsters left over from the First or Second War that we missed. The demigods tried to hunt them all down, but there's no way we could have nailed them all." That didn't seem right, though. I didn't know how I knew that. It was just a feeling I had, and I had learned to trust my instincts a long time ago.

"Alright. Either or. Great," Tony said. "Jarvis, send these readings to Fury and tell him we're putting Steve and Percy on it."

"Get what you need." Steve looked at me seriously. "The only thing we'll have are ear pieces to talk to Tony and the team."

"I can't wear one," I reminded him. "If I do, all the monsters in the area will be attracted to us."

"Okay, I'll just have one then." Steve started to walk to his room. "Gear up. We're going incognito."

**A/N: That's it for Chapter Seven! The characters might have been a little out of character, but whatever. I tried my best. We're kind of getting into the action a little bit here. Leave me a review and tell me what you thought! They are greatly appreciated. :) You guys are the best!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Alright, so here it is. Chapter Eight! In the last chapter, I made a small mistake. I put Lacey instead of Fleecy for when Percy was IM-ing Annabeth. I won't go back and fix it because that's probably the only time she'll ever be mentioned in this story, but I appreciate that you guys told me about my mistake! Thank you, and feel free to tell me about my other mistakes, please, so I can go fix them.**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Percy Jackson or the Avengers. Which sucks.**

* * *

Chapter Eight

"What exactly are we going to do when we get there? Just see if it's something?" Me and Steve were walking down the street, looking like regular passerby. I was dressed in simple jeans and a shirt with a hoodie over it. I had on my usual tennis shoes. Steve was dressed like me, jeans and a shirt with a jacket over it. He was wearing tennis shoes, too. We looked like a regular pair of people going down the sidewalk.

"Pretty much," he said while trying to inconspicuously adjust his near-invisible earpiece.

"And what if there's something?" I asked. "Are we going to call the others in?"

"Only if it's serious enough that we can't handle it," Steve replied.

I felt jittery nerves. Not because it was my first gig as an Avenger, but because something didn't seem right about this whole thing. I felt like something big was going to happen and that today would be the day things started getting complicated. Well, more complicated than they already were.

"What are you armed with?" I asked to distract myself. It wouldn't help anything if I got myself all worked up.

"I don't really know what it's called," Steve admitted, blushing, "but it's some kind of handgun or pistol."

I laughed. "Even if you would've known, I wouldn't have had a clue about what that was or anything." I frowned, a thought coming to mind. "That's not going to do you much good when it comes to monsters. They can only be killed by Celestial bronze."

"It will slow them down."

"Yeah, but just to be safe . . ." I walked into a nearby alley, checking around me to make sure no one was watching. I pulled the end of my left pants leg up and unstrapped the Celestial bronze dagger I brought, just in case. I handed it to Steve, hilt first. "For when you slow them down. Though I wouldn't use the gun because there's the off chance someone on the street might hear. You can fight the monsters with this. If you get in trouble, just shout my name and I'll help you."

Steve examined the eight-inch dagger with curiosity. "What happens when I slash them with this?"

"It kind of looks like their body turns into sand and a power fan blows it everywhere." I shrugged. "I'm not complaining. You wanna know how disgusting clean-up after fights or wars for demigods would be?" I wrinkled my nose. "Ugh, thank the gods. That would suck big time."

We walked out the alley and kept going to our destination. Steve turned to me. "When demigods die, they don't . . . they don't turn into sand do they?" He looked a little disturbed at the thought.

"No, of course not!" I reassured him. "No, when we die, our bodies die like normal humans. Except, not in normal situations."

Steve wrinkled his forehead. "Did you have a lot of deaths in the past two wars?"

I sighed and looked down at my beat-up shoes. "Even if we would have just lost one demigod, it would have been too much. But yeah," I said, "in normal terms, we lost a sort of average number. Maybe a little above average." I swallowed. "The whole camp lost friends. You just don't understand they can die and leave you until they actually do."

"I know what you mean." Steve had a sad look on his face, and his eyes were unfocused, like he was reliving some bad memories.

"But at least they're somewhere better," I said to snap both of us out of it. We wouldn't get anything done on this trip if we were too focused on the past.

"Yeah." Steve nodded to the building ahead of him. "That's where the energy readings were."

"How convenient," I muttered under my breath. "An abandoned warehouse. This is so clichéd." The warehouse was four stories high. It looked slightly unstable and could probably collapse on you if you breathed wrong. I wondered if it smelled like mold in there.

Steve spoke quietly into his earpiece to Tony. "You'd think that evil monsters would get more creative over time," I told Steve when he was done updating Tony and the others. "They just keep repeating what they've already done, though."

"Lucky for us," Steve pointed out as we approached closer to the building and the empty alley next to it.

"Yeah, it is," I conceded. "This whole situation right here just doesn't seem right."

Steve frowned. I saw him fiddling with the small dagger I had given him. He had put it in his jacket pocket, and I could tell he was itching to take it out. "How do you mean?"

"It's just a feeling." I shifted uncomfortably as we stood still in front of the warehouse. I could feel something was in there, and I knew it wasn't a good thing.

"We should probably go around the building to see if there's a side door," Steve said, scanning the building.

"Sounds good," I replied, eyeing the building apprehensively. "Let's go before whatever's in there sees us."

We walked around to the end of the building stealthily. We paused at the door, and I pressed an ear against the door, trying to see if I could hear something. I shook my head at Steve. He pressed his ear com and mumbled, "We're going to go in, Tony. We'll keep you posted."

"Roger," I heard Tony's voice say.

"I'm going to pick the lock," I whispered to Steve. He nodded, and I uncapped Riptide. I slid the flat of my sword into the small crack of the door and moved it upward. It opened with a barely audible _click. _I swung the door open silently.

I gestured for Steve to follow me once I checked that the coast was clear. "Is anything even in here?" I heard Steve quietly ask as he stepped over a broken computer. I was about to respond when I saw something on a table that caught my eye. I stepped closer to get a better look. My eyes widened. There were deep claw marks gouged into the table.

I backed up and let my eyes sweep all over the room. There were more claw marks on the wall, a leather chair, and the floor. "Definitely."

I heard some scratching noises above me and snapped my head up quickly. I looked back at Steve, who was eying the ceiling. I walked over to him and leaned in so I could whisper into his ear. "There is something upstairs for sure, and we need to go check it out." I bit my lip and drummed my fingers against the side of my leg soundlessly. "Those are monsters up there for sure, but I'm just not sure what kind. I have an idea, but I'm not going to say it out loud." I glanced behind me. "Names have power."

Steve nodded his head slowly. "Alright, let's go."

"Wait." I stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "A few tips for that knife you'll be using. To use it, you need to get up under their guard. You have to be quick, and you have to be smart. Got it?"

"Yes."

"And you don't necessarily have to slash a monster in a fatal place to kill them. A shoulder or stomach will be fine." I looked at him seriously. "Just don't hesitate. You'll get yourself killed."

"Okay." Steve motioned for me to lead the way.

We crept noiselessly up the stairs. Once we had reached the second floor, Steve moved to search it, but I held him back. "They aren't going to be on this floor."

Steve furrowed his brows. "How do you know?"

"This building is four stories high, right?" Steve nodded. "Monsters are pretty vain creatures. They just _love _to brag. No," I said, "they're definitely going to be on the top floor. It's much more dramatic."

"You know a lot about monsters," Steve commented as we made our way up to the fourth floor.

"I guess so. I've been dealing with them since I was twelve."

We finally reached the fourth floor, and we both paused outside the door. I motioned for him to press his ear against the door to see if he could hear anything. I did the same.

". . . don't think he will be pleased. . . efforts. . ." I heard a voice say.

"I don't think I've. . . pleased."

". . . must make arrangements to kidnap. . . and communicate with. . ."

I looked at Steve with wide eyes as we continued to hear snatches of their conversation. He looked back at me in confusion. I shrugged. I had no idea what was going on either.

"I believe you must all be stupid," a loud female voice said. It sounded almost. . . familiar. "You can't even tell when a sea god's brat is eavesdropping. I could smell that disgusting demigod from twenty miles away."

I cursed under my breath as at least a dozen footsteps thundered toward the door. Steve and me backed up simultaneously and drew our weapons. What I saw made me pause in surprise for a moment before scowling. I was looking into the face of Kelli the empousa. She looked exactly the same from the last time I had seen her, which was during the First War. She had on a sparkling red dress, which I thought did nothing for her mismatched legs. Surrounding her were half a dozen telkhines, a few dracaena, and a laistrygonian.

"Ah, Percy. Long time, no see," she purred. She stalked forward a few steps and only stopped when I held my sword toward her as a warning. "You look just as handsome as you did when I last saw you."

"You look just as animal-like as you used to. How's your donkey leg?" I said.

She snarled. "Just as annoying as usual, I see. I can't wait until I get the chance to kill you and your friends."

"Why wait?"

"Someone wants you more than I do," she answered absently as she glanced at Steve up and down. He stared back at her, his jaw clenched. "Hello, handsome. You must be the man from way back when." She smiled sweetly at him. "Steve Rodgers, it's a pleasure."

"And how do you know me?" he asked. I could tell his muscles were coiled together, ready to strike at any moment.

"I have my sources," she said mysteriously.

"What do you want?" I growled. "Why are you even here with these idiots?" I gestured to the monsters beside her who were glaring at me. "Not really your style."

"No, they aren't. But I do what the boss says, when he says it." She shrugged in a what-can-you-do way.

I narrowed my eyes. "What boss?"

"I'm afraid that's none of your business," she said, her voice dangerously low.

"Well, _I'm _afraid it is. Sounds like you're trying to stir something up again. Remember how well that worked out last time?" I reminded her.

"Listen," she said, batting her eyelids, laying on her charm thick. "The only job I have is to bring you to the boss. You know, he can deal with you how he pleases, and I go on my merry way to kill your friends. It's as simple as that." She took as step forward.

"No, actually I don't think it is. Now, Steve!" I yelled as I pounced on the nearest telkhine. It tried to swipe at me with its claws, but I dodged and sliced it in half. It exploded into sand. I dealt with the next telkhine in the same fashion. I became a blur in battle—constantly bobbing and stabbing and jabbing. I glanced over at Steve when I got a lull in fighting to see how he was doing. He was holding his own with a dracaena.

We quickly got rid of the rest of the monsters together. I wiped the sweat off my brow after Steve had stabbed the last telkhine in the stomach. We wiped our blades off, and I was just about to comment on the fight when I felt a hand grab me from behind. It spun me around and pinned me against the wall. It was Kelli. _Stupid, stupid, stupid! _I berated myself. I knew better than to let my guard down like that after a battle.

"Just come with me Percy," she crooned. "It would be so much easier. To just give up. You're tired, aren't you? Tired of fighting?" She was laying her enchantment on me pretty thick. I found myself struggling to concentrate on bringing my sword up to stab her. Riptide felt like lead in my hand.

"Go back to Tartarus," I managed to grunt out. She scratched the right side of my cheek with her nail. A thin trickle of blood slipped down my cheek.

She grinned fiercely. "Only if you come back with me."

I felt myself grow hot with anger. The hazy cloud started to clear up, and I shoved her off of me. She smirked and exploded into flames. I cursed and looked around to make sure she wasn't here anymore.

Steve was starting to shake himself out of the trance, too. He started searching the room to see if there were any more monsters. He walked towards me and his eyes continued to dart around the room. "Are you okay? Is she dead?"

I sighed a little shakily. Kelli had really shaken me up with the comment, and it made me mad to think someone could get under my defenses that easily. I tried to get control of my heart, which I'm pretty sure was trying its best to jump its way out of my chest. "Yeah, I'm fine. No, she isn't dead. She just disappeared. The really powerful ones can do that. You good?"

"Few scratches and bruises here and there. Nothing to worry about." Steve shrugged. "I heal pretty fast anyway. These will be gone in a day or two at the most."

"That's good." I straightened up from where I was still leaning on the wall and smiled grimly. "Well, at least we know what this isn't."

"What?"

"A small group of monsters the demigods never caught."

Steve pressed his earpiece and gave them an update on what had happened while I looked around the room. "SHIELD agents will be here in fifteen minutes to look the place over," Steve informed me. "Fury wants the team in a meeting immediately."

"Okay," I said. I saw a piece of paper that wasn't on the table earlier and picked it up. I read the words scribbled on it. "Hey, Steve," I called to him. "You might want to check this out. I'm pretty sure they left this on purpose."

Steve raised an eyebrow and walked over to take the piece of paper I was holding out to him. "'We're coming?'" He glanced up. "Not very original."

"It wasn't written by the boss, if that's what you're wondering. See this handwriting?" I pointed to the messy scrawl. "It had to be written by a monster with claws because of the way they ripped the paper here." I indicated the tear marks in the shape of claws. "If it was up to me, I would guess the boss, whoever or whatever that is, probably doesn't even know that a monster wrote this."

"Could Tony run an energy scan on this?" Steve asked me.

"I don't know, I guess."

"Can I ask you something?" Steve said, putting the note back on the table.

"It sort of depends on what is, but I'll answer it, sure."

"How did she know you?" Steve fidgeted with the ends of his jacket. "That monster that had the red dress on?"

"She knows me from when she tried to kill me while I was at this high school orientation thing." I shook my head. "She would have done it to if this other girl hadn't helped me."

"There was something else she said, too," Steve looked up at me and furrowed his brows. "I can't remember what it was—"

"Mr. Rodgers," a deep voice interrupted whatever Steve was going to say. I sighed in relief. I really, _really _didn't want to go into that discussion. I turned to see Nick Fury standing in the doorway. "I'll meet you both back at Avengers' Tower. We have a lot to discuss, it seems."

"Yes sir," Steve said. "Let's go, Percy."

As we passed Fury in the doorway, he gave me a suspicious look with his eye. It was like he was sending me an I'm-watching-you message with his eye. "We'll talk later, Mr. Jackson."

I gulped. "Yes sir."

The walk back to the tower was long. I felt sticky and disgusting from a combination of monster dust and sweat. I needed a shower in the worst way. Me and Steve didn't really talk that much on the way back, so when we got to the tower, it was a relief.

I went straight up to my room to take a shower, promising Steve and the others that I would be right down so we could talk.

The shower was refreshing. I stayed in a little longer than I usually did, letting the hot water beat down on my back soothingly.

When I went back to the kitchen, I heard Steve telling the others about the battle. I paused for a moment, half-curious to see what he would say.

"Percy's good," he was saying. "I would hate to be against him in a real battle. He's a natural and has amazing instincts. You should have seen him." I tried to keep my face straight and not-red so the team wouldn't know I was eavesdropping when I walked around the corner.

"Hey, guys," I greeted. I grabbed a cup from the cabinets and filled it with water. When I sat down at the kitchen table next to the others, which seemed to be our unspoken meeting place, Tony spoke up.

"So, Percy. How was your first mission as an Avenger?" he asked, running a hand over his goatee.

"A little surprising, to tell you the truth." I took a sip from my cup of water. "I wasn't expecting to see Kelli the empousa there. At all."

"Kelli the what?" Clint asked, confused.

"Empousa. She's kind of like a vampire, except a little different," I explained. "Has a donkey leg and a bronze leg. She lures men to their deaths by using charm to let their guard down and suck their blood. Empousa can be very hypnotizing. Especially very powerful ones like her."

"Steve said she told you some interesting things," Natasha said.

"Yeah. Yeah, she did." I thought back to what she said. I was a little unnerved that she told me to go back to Tartarus with her, but I guess word gets around fast when I demigod goes to Tartarus and manages comes back out sane. "She said she had a boss. I have no idea who it is." I shrugged. "The only clue I have is that he's a bad guy."

Steve frowned. "How did that empousa know who I was?"

"Monsters hate me, if you haven't noticed. They like to keep tabs on me and see who or what I'm hanging out with at all times. News like me living with you guys probably traveled around pretty quick," I pointed out.

Steve looked like he was having a mental replay of the battle. "Now that I think about it, she really didn't say much. Just that she had a boss, she was going to kill Percy's friends, and she said something else at the end. Right when you were about to kill her, Percy," he flicked his eyes in my direction. "You told her to go to Tartarus and she said something about you going back with her."

I didn't say anything. I was frozen, and cursing my bad luck. I had hoped Steve hadn't heard that. The others looked at me.

"Uh, excuse me?" Clint asked to get everyone's attention. "Where's Tartarus?"

"It's not really a where. It's a what," I told him numbly. I was trying with all my power not to let my mind stray to _that place _where I got the flashbacks. I absolutely would _not _go there when some people I had just met were in the room with me.

Thor was the only one who seemed unaffected by the tension in the room. "It's the deepest, darkest pit in the Underworld. It contains the evilest and oldest monsters and titans known."

"That's where Kronos is, if you can remember your Greek mythology," I reminded them, still mentally pushing the flashbacks away from me.

"Percy." Steve looked at me like he was finally getting what was going on. It looked like the others were starting to catch on, too. "She said _go back._" He put extra emphasis on that part. "Almost like. . . Almost like you've already been there."

Thor sighed heavily and continued paying extra attention to the table in front of him.

Tony turned to Thor. "But you already knew that, huh?" he asked.

"Yes," Thor confirmed. "I did not want to tell you. It was not my story to tell. I knew Percy would inform you when the time came."

"How long were you in there?" Natasha's mask was back in place. She must not have wanted anyone to know how or what she felt about this.

"And more importantly, _why?_" Bruce took off his glasses and nervously fiddled with them.

"I guess it's time I told you," I said, resigned. I knew I had to tell them, but it didn't mean I wanted to. "It's kind of important."

So I told them. Everything. About not wanting to be separated from Annabeth like that again, about why and how it happened. I skimmed over the details of actually being in Tartarus. That information wasn't important and would only lead to a flashback. Gods knew I didn't need a big whopper flashback when I was telling them something like this. They would freak.

"So, that's it," I concluded once I was done. It was difficult to get everything out, but I was glad I did. I actually felt a teeny bit better. Even if the team's faces were varying between surprise, horror, sadness, and respect.

Tony held up his hands in a "stop everything now" motion. "Let me get a few things straight. You and your girlfriend were the only demigods who were lucid enough to know what was going on to ever get out of Tartarus?"

"If we aren't counting Nico, then yeah."

Bruce whistled. "And you didn't lose your mind?"

"Nope," I said, absently making swirls in my cup of water with my powers. "I did lose a lot of weight, though."

"If you had to guess, how much weight?" Clint asked.

"Probably anywhere from fifteen to twenty pounds," I decided after a moment's consideration.

"Geez, that's a lot," Tony said, shaking his head.

"You're telling me. I had to be put on a special diet until I got most my weight back. It was annoying." I wrinkled my nose. It was irritating to have someone keep you from eating or keeping you from not eating. I had been glad when that was over.

"You're more than what meets the eye, Percy," Thor said seriously. "Stories on Asgard do not do you justice at all."

"Thanks, I guess."

I heard the door open behind us. We all turned as Nick Fury strode into the room. He glared at me with his eye.

"You've got some serious explaining to do, Percy Jackson."

**A/N: That's it! I feel like this wasn't my best chapter, but whatever. I would just like to thank you for all those lovely reviews/favorites/follows! I have over ONE HUNDRED REVIEWS! You guys are amazing! So anyway, let me know what you thought of this chapter. Do you guys mind the long chapters? Let me know if you want them shorter and I can try and make them shorter, but I kind of like the long chapters. Tell me what you think. I'll see you in Chapter Nine!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Okay, I'm not really sure what happened with this chapter. It was pretty light in the beginning, and then, well, have a look for yourself. Ah, I'm sorry in advance. Real author's note at the bottom. Oh, and thanks for the reviews saying you like long chapters. All of you said you prefer them over the short ones, so I'll just keep doing what I'm doing.**

**Disclaimer: There will come a day when I'll own Percy Jackson and the Avengers. Today is not that day.**

* * *

Chapter Nine

"You," Fury jabbed his finger at me. "Start talking. Now."

"Uh," was my intelligent response.

"Hang on a sec, Fury," Clint said as he held his hands out in a placating manner.

"Yeah, don't get your eye patch in a knot," Tony told him unhelpfully. "What's your problem?"

"My problem," Fury practically growled, "is that the Council is ticked off. And you know who they're angry at? Me. You wanna know why? Because of him," Fury ploughed on without giving anyone the chance to answer. "They want to know why I let a minor on the team. They want to know who he is, what he is, and why he's here. They also want to talk to you," he said, pointing a finger at me again. "They want to know if they can rely on you not to do something stupid."

Fury's eye grew darker. "They want to know what has the energy reading high enough to blow the whole building and then some."

"Alright," I cut in, "I can actually answer that one. That was an extremely powerful empousa."

"And what is that?" Fury asked suspiciously.

"Think vampire with a twist. They suck the blood of males." I gestured vaguely at my leg. "Got a donkey leg and a bronze prosthetic leg. _Very _cunning." I shook my head. "Especially ones who are over a thousand years old."

"Did you kill her?" Fury said.

"No," Steve answered. "She exploded into flames and escaped that way, somehow. Apparently the really powerful ones can do that."

"Listen, Fury," Bruce said calmly. "Why don't you just sit down and ask Percy questions instead of just demanding him to talk? It'd be a heck of a lot easier."

Fury continued to stand stiffly for a moment, then grudgingly walked over to the free chair at the head of the table.

"Alright," I said, looking at him. "Now what do you want to know?"

"What is it?" he asked immediately. "There's some kind of boss. What or who is it?"

I leaned forward on the elbow that was resting on the table and ran a hand through my hair. I sighed, frustrated. "Believe me, I want to know as much as you do."

Fury raised an eyebrow skeptically. "You don't have any idea what it could be?"

"It's something big. Something powerful. I don't know anything beyond that, though," I admitted. "It knows who I am though. And it's mad at me, obviously. I'm not actually sure that's going to narrow anything down, though."

"It has to," Natasha said. "Who or what powerful thing did you make mad?"

Thor chuckled before I could answer. "What?" Tony asked.

Thor smiled. "Percy was right. His information of this boss being mad at him will not help in our search."

"Why's that?" Steve asked, frowning.

I grinned sheepishly. "I tick off pretty much every single being more powerful than me."

"On purpose or what?" Tony asked with his eyes glinting.

"Well, sometimes for a plan to work, I have to tick them off to distract them or try and beat them, but usually they just don't like me. At all. I usually hear the words 'annoying upstart' and 'Percy' together in the same sentence, if that explains anything."

"I could believe that," Fury muttered under his breath.

"The Olympians actually just started tolerating me," I said proudly. "They don't want to smite me on sight anymore. Unless it's a bad day."

"So that doesn't narrow anything down," Bruce concluded.

I sighed, becoming serious once more. "Listen," I said, putting on my I-know- what-I'm-doing voice on. "I have no idea what I could have made mad this time. We demigods took care of a titan and an evil Mother Earth. There's literally nothing else I can think of that can still be up and running that didn't support those two."

"What are you saying?" Fury stared at me.

"We need to wait it out."

Silence met my proposal. After a few moments, Fury spoke up first, unsurprisingly. "Excuse me?"

I felt my confidence sliding away quickly even though I knew this was the right choice. "And exactly _why _should we do that?" Fury challenged.

I hardened my eyes slightly. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe because we have no clue in Hades of what it actually is?" I said sarcastically. "Do you really want to act against it and end up only strengthening it? Because if that's what you want to do, then I'm going to have to very _strongly _disagree with you." I held my ground on my decision stubbornly when he opened his mouth to say something. "No, stop. The Avengers are supposed to help people, right? We can't let people get hurt just because we rushed into it without even thinking. So give it a little while so I can try to get some info on this, okay?"

Fury stared at me until I thought that I had pushed my luck with this and was going to be forcibly ejected from the building. "Fine," he said finally. "We'll wait. I don't know what you want me to say to the Council."

"Shut up?" I suggested.

Fury smirked. "I wish."

Fury's phone started ringing, and he answered it almost immediately. "Agent Smart. What do you have?" He excused himself from the meeting.

Tony leaned in to grin at me. "How are you holding up after your first Fury assault? You actually didn't do too bad."

"I don't know, he looked pretty scared to me when Fury first came in," Clint teased.

"He must have manned up after though when he realized that he's ticked off gods before. He can deal with Fury." Tony smirked.

"And titans. And Mother Earth," I added.

"Mother Earth?" Steve asked.

I blew out a gust of air slowly. "That was the stupidest thing I've ever done. I think. Well, that and blowing up Mount St. Helens," I added as an afterthought.

"Wait a minute, let's back up a little. Mount St. Helens? As in the _volcano _Mount St. Helens?" Tony asked incredulously.

"Is there another Mount St. Helens?" I asked, feeling a little awkward at the attention.

"That was _you _a couple years back?" Clint gawked.

I rubbed the back of my neck. "Uh, yeah."

"Why did you blow up a volcano?" Natasha said. "You do realize you caused about half a million people to evacuate, right?"

I felt my face turning red. "Yeah, trust me, I know. I didn't mean to blow up Mount St. Helens."

"Did I just hear that you blew up Mount St. Helens?" Fury had just come back from his phone call apparently. Great, I thought. I was probably going to be arrested for being a terrorist by blowing up a volcano.

"I didn't mean to blow up the volcano!" I repeated loudly.

"So why did you?" Thor asked, curious. "I don't believe I have heard this battle."

I rubbed a hand over my face. "It wasn't a battle," I said, my voice muffled by my speech.

Thor frowned. "Then what was it?"

"Oh my gods," I said. "I was on fire."

"You blew up a volcano because you were on fire?" Tony asked. "What happened to stop, drop, and roll?"

I groaned and put my face down on the table. "Come on," I told the table. I picked my head off the table. "The god of the forges, Hephaestus, said he would help us with our quest if we check out one of his forges that he thought had been overrun with something. It turns out that was where they were making Kronos' all powerful scythe there. It could sever your soul from your body if it touched your skin. So of course I had to try and stop the telekhines that were making it. Not that I had a choice because I'd already been discovered by a class of small telekhines. So I distracted them so Annabeth could get out with her invisible hat."

"Then what happened?" Bruce asked.

"Well, these old telekhines with the scythe next to them had me cornered off in a lava room. Then they started throwing lava at me." I winced and rubbed my stomach, remembering the fire. "It didn't sting me at first because I have the 'sea in my veins' or whatever. After a few seconds it started burning. So I realized that I was going to be burned alive and kind of . . . You know," I waved my hand in the air.

They stared at me blankly. "I do not know what that means," Thor said, confused.

"Well, uh, this is gonna sound weird. I just remembered the ocean and gathered all my power within me and just. . .let it all out." I shrugged, not knowing what else to do.

"And you blew up the volcano?" Tony asked.

I sighed. "Yes, I blew up the volcano. And myself out of it at the same time."

Bruce winced. "Didn't that hurt?"

"Very badly," I confirmed. "I could barely get up for a week. It completely drained me."

"I bet," Clint said.

"He blew up a volcano," Tony said, looking like he still couldn't believe it. "Not everyone gets to say that." He started smiling. "What did I do when I was a teenager? Oh yeah, I blew up a volcano."

I rubbed my face again. I was pretty sure my face was beet red. "I think we established the fact that I blew up the volcano. Which I did not mean to do, by the way," I threw in, knowing it would be ignored.

"I want to blow up a volcano," Tony said.

"No one is blowing up anything!" I said loudly. "Oh my gods. I need a filter for my mouth. I didn't even mean to say that I blew up the volcano."

"Well, I'm glad you did," Tony said, smiling like he'd just won the lottery.

Bruce stared at Tony for a long while, then cleared his throat. "Anyway," he said, "we'll get back to you when we know more." He told to Fury.

"That's fine." Fury had a strange look on his face. He turned back to me. "The Council wants to meet with you on Thursday."

"What's today?"

"Monday."

I forced a smile on my face. "That should fine. I can't wait," I tried to put some semblance of cheerfulness into my tone, but ended up falling flat. By a lot. The others looked at me weirdly for a moment, then told Fury goodbye.

"What's up, Percy?" Clint asked.

"The Council is going to kill me," I moaned. "They're going cut me up, season me, and put me in the frying pan." I groaned. "You might as well kick me out now. There's no way they're going to let me stay with my rep."

"Kid," Tony said, smiling slightly, "if you think we're letting you out that easy, you're wrong. Anyone who blows up a volcano is welcome any day in my tower."

"Thanks, Tony." I smiled. "I wonder if I should tell the Council I blew up the volcano. Just to see their faces."

"Well, I'm hacking into the video feed, so we'll definitely see what happens during the meeting." A thought looked like it just occurred to Tony. "That is, if you don't mind?"

I smirked. "Go right ahead. I don't care."

Thor frowned. "I do not like the Council very much."

"Thor, I'm pretty sure the Council doesn't even like themselves all that much," Clint said.

"You'll do fine, Percy," Natasha reassured me.

"Just don't talk back to them at all," Steve said with a twinkle in his eye. "Let's see if you can go the whole meeting without making them mad."

"I can't think of one person who wouldn't love this glowing personality of mine," I deadpanned. Tony and Clint snickered.

Tony sighed. "As much as I would love to continue this little powwow of ours, I've got work to do. I almost done with this thing I started, so just a few more tweaks."

Natasha stood up and stretched. "Supper in an hour," she said. A chorus of sures and yeahs followed her out of the room. We all dispersed to do our own thing.

I got in the elevator, not knowing where to go. "Do you need help, sir?" Jarvis asked. I finally made up my mind. "Yeah. Could you take me to the rooftop?"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

I looked at the sunset and smiled. It was beautiful out here. I felt at peace with my thoughts. They weren't pushing me to think anything right now, and it was relaxing.

I must have dozed off with my thoughts and had a nightmare because when I woke, I was gasping for air, my chest heaving. I lay back down and tried to catch my breath, which soon proved to be a very bad idea.

—_needed to get out, needed to help—_

—_all my fault—_

—_I couldn't save them—_

I coughed and sputtered, trying desperately to escape from the flashback.

—_darkness, evil voices, no, no, no!—_

_A deep voice came out of the darkness. "You think you aren't to blame?" It laughed cruelly. "It's all your fault. Some hero you are. Can't even save your own friends," it said disgustedly. Its words felt like punches to my stomach. "You don't deserve anything. You should be back in the Pit."_

_I felt myself being dragged down deeper into the darkness. "NO!" I screamed._

I finally gathered the strength to pull myself out, and I just lay there, struggling to breathe. I took a shuddering breath. I tried to push myself up, but I didn't have the strength to do that. So I just kept lying there. Eventually I felt a single tear roll down my cheek. I didn't move my hand to stop it from falling. I just breathed. In, out. In, out. When did breathing get so hard?

After a long while, I finally got up. The sunset was long gone, and there was only darkness. I walked to the elevator and got in silently.

"To the Avengers' Floor, sir?" Jarvis asked softly.

"I won't be joining the others for supper tonight," I told him hollowly, ignoring the question for a minute. "Tell them I'm sorry, but I'm just not hungry." My stomach clenched painfully, but it was the truth. If I were to eat something right now, I had the feeling that would just be spilling it back into the toilet a few minutes later. "Please take me to the Avengers' Floor."

I leaned against the side and closed my eyes as we went down. I sighed shakily. "Sir, are you sure you're alright?" I heard Jarvis's voice float down to me as if in a dream.

"I just need some rest," I said honestly.

"Tell me if you need something at any time, sir," he said, managing to sound worried somehow.

"Sure thing," I said tiredly, leaning against the wall more and more. The elevator dinged quietly, and I trudged back to my room. Once I got there, I sagged against a wall and slowly slid down. I put my face in my hands. Now what was I going to do? I couldn't sleep. That was out of the question after that little episode I had on the rooftop. I stood up, deciding I could at least go swim or something to get my mind off things.

I took the stairs, not wanting to take the chance of having someone see me on the elevator. When I arrived, I didn't even bother stripping off my shirt. I just raised my hands and felt the water answer my command. I didn't really concentrate on what I was doing, only that it was big and power-consuming.

I created magnificent ice sculptures and smashed them down, not caring if the shards scratched my skin, I knew it would be healed within seconds. I made hurricanes bigger than the one I demonstrated for the team, tsunami waves twenty feet high, and finally I just picked up all the water from the enormous pool and guided it through the air in a symphony of movement until I could barely stand.

I sat down heavily by the pool, legs sprawled out and arms limp. I was bone tired. I rubbed at my eyes, then dropped them. I arranged my hands to where they were palm up. They were shaking when I looked at them. "What is wrong with me?" I whispered to myself, hoping for someone, _anyone _to tell me. Even a clue would work just fine.

I wondered if I was cracking. Did I have cracks on the inside of me? If something hit me hard enough, was I going to break? I had the feeling that I had so many cracks and fractures in me, all the super glue in the world wouldn't be able to fix me. Would I ever be fixed? _Could _I ever be fixed.

I bowed my head and just sat there, staring ahead, back hunched. I heard the door open behind me. I didn't bother turning, hoping that the person would just take a hint and leave me alone. I heard footsteps walking up slowly behind me. They stopped probably about five feet from me.

"Hi," a voice said. It was Tony. I heard a few other footsteps start toward me.

I sighed. "Hi."

The other footsteps stopped near Tony's.

I heard someone sigh. "What are you doing here, Percy?" Bruce asked gently.

I shrugged, not really knowing what to say.

I heard another sigh. I saw Tony sit down on my right, and Steve on my left, and the other Avengers dropped down beside them. They didn't even complain about their butts getting wet. I would've done something about that, except I could barely keep myself from toppling over.

We just sat there for a while, keeping our silence. They didn't say anything, or ask me if I wanted to talk about it. They were just there, a comforting presence in the background. And I realized, they got it. They knew that you couldn't force these things. You just had to wait and let them happen before you could help. It was nice to know they were there for me. Could this team become my second family? If that was going to happen, I couldn't say I would be disappointed. I had to admit they were pretty awesome.

After what was probably two hours of sitting beside the pool and doing nothing, saying nothing, I finally cleared my throat. Their eyes turned on me. I forced a weak smile on my face. "It was a rough at the office today, honey," I said.

They smiled sadly. I ducked my head again.

Tony brushed off his hands. "Why don't we go hang out on the couch and watch TV, buddy?" he asked me.

"That sounds great." I needed to get off this floor anyway. It'd be good for me.

They all got up and started brushing themselves off, stretching out the kinks. When they noticed I was still sitting, they frowned.

"What?" I asked them. "You think I can get up by myself after all that?"

**A/N: See what I mean? I don't know, I'm sorry if you don't like this chapter. I chalk it up to listening to depressing music when I was writing. Remind me not to do that anymore. My only defense for this chapter is that Percy is getting desperate because it's getting worse. He's getting more cracks in him, and he's wondering if he'll shatter soon. So, sorry if you don't like it, but this chapter is important, so yeah. (I hope they weren't too out of character.) Thanks for the reviews/favorites/follows! I LOVE THEM! Plus I have over 10,000 views! WOOT WOOT! Until Chapter Ten, lads.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hello, all you lovely people. I just wanted to say that the feedback on this story is amazing! You should see all of the reviews, favorites, and follows. Seriously, guys, I have over 150 reviews! Thanks for all you support, and enjoy the chapter. This chapter's pretty light, so you don't have to worry about being depressed. Oh, and I know a lot of you want Percy to have a flashback with the Avengers soon, but I'd like to ask you to wait! I've got some things planned for my little characters, so you'll just have to see how that goes.**

**Disclaimer: If I don't own my babies by Chapter Ten, I'm pretty sure I'm never going to own them.**

* * *

Chapter Ten

I woke up not knowing where I was.

_Don't freak out, _I told myself. _Just figure out where you are. What's the last thing you remember? Come on, stupid brain, think._

I was lying on something soft, and a blanket was tucked snugly around my shoulders. I opened my eyes, and it all came rushing back at me.

I was on the couch. We had moved here after last night's—actually this morning's—events. I didn't know I had fallen asleep watching TV. I must have been comforted by the thought that if I had another nightmare, the team would wake me. Not to mention I was exhausted.

That thought stopped me for a moment. Since when had I become so trusting of the team? I barely even knew them. Literally. I knew nothing about them: where they came from, their family, any part of their life story, really. But I still felt comfortable around them.

_I should probably get up, _I thought to myself lazily. Who knew what time of the day it was.

I sat up and stifled a groan. Okay, so using all the power and energy I had last night seemed like a good idea in the moment, but definitely not good the morning after. I had aches and pains all over my body. I must have really been out of practice. When was the last time I had used up that much energy? The end of the Second War? My under-used muscles certainly agreed with me.

"Good morning, sunshine," a cheery voice said behind me. I looked over my shoulder, still trying to blink the sleep out of my eyes. It was Tony, of course.

"Ugh, what time is it?" I asked blearily.

"Bout two o'clock," Tony replied carelessly.

"Two o'clock?" I echoed, surprised. The blanket fell off my shoulders and settled around my waist.

"Yeah, no one wanted to wake you up," he said. "You fell asleep at around seven, if you wanted to know. We all took little cat naps of our own while you were asleep."

I grimaced guiltily. "Oh gods, I didn't keep you up, did I? Sorry, it was a stupid move last night, and I shouldn't have done it. I really don't know what I was think—"

"It's fine," Tony interrupted, waving a hand as if to bat away my apologies. "Everyone needs to let off some steam every once in a while, and I'm glad you decided to do it here. It's fine if you want to go to the pool and just completely let off all your power . . ." he trailed off, looking wistful for a second. "You know what? We'll talk about this in the kitchen with the others. You're probably starving." He shook himself. "Come on."

"Yeah, okay." I got up, or actually attempted to get up. I fell back onto the couch with a huff. "Ow," I muttered.

Tony chuckled. "Need some help getting up, old man?"

"No," I snapped, still trying to ineffectually push my arms in a way where it wouldn't hurt. Tony just laughed some more and held up his hands, like he was surrendering. He walked into the kitchen on his perfectly functioning, very much _not sore _legs. I scowled at his retreating form.

After finally waddling my way to the kitchen, I saw that the whole team was there. I saw a plate of food was laid out on the table for me. Of course, plate might not actually be the right term. It was more like a small platter, filled with all kinds of different food. There was some steak and chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans, and about four kinds of fruit.

I raised my eyebrows at the spread. "I didn't know a small army was coming to eat here."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Shut up, sit down, and eat your food," she said, smiling slightly.

I shrugged and gingerly sat down. I glared at Tony when he started snickering. "Shut up, Tony."

"I didn't say any—" He cut himself off when he saw my glare intensify. "Shutting up."

I returned to my food, wondering what I should have first. I decided on the chicken. I picked up a leg and started chomping on it. I paused when I felt the team's eyes on me. My chicken remained suspended in the air on its way to my mouth awkwardly.

"You okay, Percy?" Clint finally said.

"You aren't talking about right now at this moment, are you?" I asked, carefully taking another bite of the chicken.

"So, we're going to take that as a no?" Bruce asked.

"Take that as an I don't know," I corrected. I finished off the last of the chicken and moved on to the mashed potatoes that were practically calling my name. "Right now I'm just fine, if that's what you're asking."

"This morning at two A.M. you weren't," Natasha pointed out softly.

I winced. "Yeah, no I wasn't." I felt the mashed potatoes lose their flavor in my mouth at the change of subject. I kept eating anyway, but not with as much enthusiasm. Even though the food was really, _really _great.

"What is wrong, young friend? What ails you?" Thor asked, concerned.

"Honestly, I don't know." I ran a hand through my hair, making it stick up in all directions. "The gods sent me here to help you," I said. "But they didn't just send me here for that."

"What else did they send you for?" Tony frowned in thought.

I hesitated but decided I might as well tell them. It might even make things easier. "They said that_ you_ could help _me_, too."

"What? What do you need help with?" Bruce said confused.

"You see, that's what I'm trying to figure out." I speared a few green beans with my fork and stuffed them in my mouth. "The gods said that I'm lost, or something like that, and that I need to _find _myself."

"What does that mean?" Clint snagged a green bean from my plate absently.

" I'm sure you're getting as tired of hearing this as I am of saying it, but I really don't know." I sighed. "The gods never give a straight answer." Thunder boomed outside and the team looked at Thor curiously. Thor shook his head at them. I rolled my eyes. "Well, it's true," I told the thunder.

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "Wait, was that them?"

"Yes, that was Zeus. He probably doesn't like what I'm saying about them." I waved my hand around vaguely. "I don't know what they're actually saying, but I can figure pretty closely."

They all shrugged, and Clint stole another green bean, crunching on it thoughtfully. "So, what was that this morning?"

I groaned and covered my face with my hands. "A very typical not-smart decision brought to you by an idiot named Percy Jackson." I uncovered my face. "It was impulsive and stupid, and I definitely shouldn't have done that."

Bruce gave me a knowing look. "Percy, everyone needs the chance—"

"If you're gonna say 'let off some steam' then Tony already beat you to it," I interrupted. Bruce frowned at Tony but didn't say anything. "Besides, it was dangerous doing that," I went on.

"What do you mean dangerous?" Natasha asked.

I hesitated. "Well, I could have hurt you guys." They gave me confused looks, so I elaborated. "I could have hurt anybody, really. I could have lost control just for a second, and suddenly there's an earthquake somewhere or a storm or _something. _Anything could have happened." I shook my head. "So I don't think I'll be doing that again."

"You're leaving something out, Percy," Steve said, scanning over me intently with his eyes. "You didn't explain_ why _you did it."

I swallowed. "I had a dream on the roof when I went to just go relax up there. Well, it wasn't actually a dream; it was a nightmare."

"Okay so you had a really bad nightmare?" Tony asked cautiously. "That still doesn't sound like all of it."

"That's because it's not." I shrugged a shoulder. "I would have been fine with just the nightmare. Well, not fine, but I can deal with those by themselves usually unless they're really serious." I had to force the next words out of my throat. It went against my instinct to tell them this since I hadn't told anyone, not even Annabeth, about how bad everything was. I didn't want them to worry. "It was the flashback that put me over the edge."

Tony got a weird look in his eye after that but didn't say anything.

"What happened after that?" Bruce prompted helpfully.

"Well, after a while I went back inside." I tried to remember what happened after that since the details were a little fuzzy. "Um, then I think I went back to my room for a few minutes. And then I went to the pool and tried to use up all the energy I could without overheating so I could fall asleep without a nightmare."

Clint whistled under his breath. "Geez, kid, why didn't you tell us?"

I shrugged again. I seemed to be doing that a lot lately. "Why do you think a Hero of Olympus and leader of a camp won't tell anyone anything that's really been happening to him lately?"

Thor's eyes widened a little bit. "Wait, young leader. You surely are not implying that you have told no one of this? Not even your young friend, Annabeth?"

I shook my head. "Not the whole truth. I have to convince everyone I'm okay after the kind of war we've just been through so that they're okay."

"You have to be strong for everyone," Steve summed up. He looked like he got what I was saying.

"If the leader can't handle what's happening, then they think they can't. Even though they're all a lot stronger than they think they are," I said.

"Well, you belong on the team then, Percy, for sure. You've had as much crap happen to you as we've had happen to us," Tony said, tapping his arc reactor.

"I guess so," I conceded. I waited for a moment to see if anyone would break the silence. Tony did first, as usual.

"You know what we need to do?" Tony asked with his eyes gleaming.

"What?" Bruce asked warily. He probably knew all too well what Tony's ideas were like.

"What's something all normal kids Percy's age do besides making out with each other and texting all day long?" Tony asked, practically bouncing out of his chair with enthusiasm.

"I have no idea," I said truthfully. The others were also wearing very confused faces.

"Ice cream!" Tony said with a huge grin. "They go get ice cream with their buddies!"

"They do?" Natasha asked skeptically.

"They do?" Clint echoed with a frown.

"They do!" Tony confirmed.

"I would like to have more of this creamed ice, also," Thor agreed.

"There's one problem," I interrupted before Tony could really get going.

Tony wrinkled his nose. "Like what?"

"You're the Avengers," I pointed out. "People are going to know who you are. Especially Tony."

Tony visibly deflated. "Dang it, I forgot about that. How are we going to get ice cream, then?"

"Why don't we go to the grocery store?" Steve suggested.

"That seems like a logical choice to me," Thor said.

"To the store it is," I said. Gods help me. Who knew how our impromptu trip to the grocery store was going to turn out?

* * *

It turns out I was one hundred percent correct, for once. Going to the grocery store with six superheroes was not the best idea _at all. _

"But I don't want that one," Tony persisted. "I want banana pudding."

"No," Natasha said, dangerously low. "We're getting cookie dough."

"I do not know what to get," Thor said almost miserably, looking at all of the different kinds the store offered. "I do not know what is considered good on Midgard."

"Cookie Dough," Natasha told him over her shoulder. She went back to glaring at Tony.

"I think plain vanilla would be good, but I don't mind much," Steve said, watching the soon-to-be fight that would break out between Tony and Natasha.

"I haven't had ice cream in a long time," Bruce admitted to anyone who would listen. "Maybe I should just get Rocky Road."

"I don't know if I want Happy Trails or Strawberry," Clint said to himself, completely ignoring everyone else and looking at the flavors contemplatively.

"Banana Pudding is way better," Tony said.

"Sure it's good. But not as good as Cookie Dough," Natasha shot back.

"Okay, compromise. Get your own flavor, and you can each have a little of each other's when we get back to the tower. Okay?"I said a touch desperately.

They all turned to me slowly as if they just realized I was still with them. Tony rubbed his goatee. "That's a good idea. I've got enough money with me for all of us to have our own anyway."

So we ended up getting our own flavor and going to the register with seven tubs of ice cream.

"Oh, wait!" Tony said as we started to put our stuff on the counter. "I forgot whipped cream and cherries and chocolate syrup and caramel syrup!" He dashed away to get it.

"Can you please wait a moment, ma'am?" I asked the lady at the register politely.

She popped her gum and said, "Whatever."

"I better go check on Tony," Steve said. He walked away to go find Tony.

After five minutes, I started to get worried. I told the others I was going to go see Tony and Steve and strode quickly over to the nearest aisle to begin searching.

On my fifth aisle, I found Tony sprawled out on the floor trying to pick up the cherries he'd spilled everywhere from breaking the jar. Steve was trying to pick up all of the cans that he'd knocked over.

"Guys," I groaned. "Come on, seriously?"

They looked up and smiled sheepishly. "It was an accident," they said in unison.

I rolled my eyes. "Come on."

They left the mess in the aisle and followed after me to the register.

When Tony came around the corner with his shirt stained with cherry juice, Clint snickered, Bruce sighed, Thor just looked confused, and Natasha tried to hide a grin.

"What happened to—" Thor began to say.

I held up a hand. "You don't want to go there. Let's just get our ice cream and go before someone sees us. Or before Tony breaks something else."

The lady at the checkout counter looked at us weird for a moment, then decided we aren't worth her time. She checked out the ice cream, and we walked out the door with a bag each.

"I wonder if we have any whipped cream at the tower," Tony mumbled to himself after a while.

"I sincerely hope not considering your past experiences with it," Bruce said, not bothering to look at Tony.

Clint opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by someone else who was definitely not on the team talking.

"Oh. My. Gosh," a hushed voice said behind us.

I froze for a moment, then turned around slowly. I cursed under my breath. Standing in front of us was a girl of about fifteen with an Avengers shirt on. Her blonde hair was in a high ponytail. She was staring at us with her mouth open. Then she started smiling really big, and I knew she was going to scream before she could open her mouth.

"Wait!" I nearly shouted. She paused for a moment, looking curiously at me. "I know what you're thinking. You think that they're the Avengers, right? Well, I hate to tell you, but these people aren't the Avengers," I said, improvising on the spot. "They are the Avengers' doubles. They walk around town incognito so that people will follow them instead of the real Avengers."

She looked suspicious for a moment, but thankfully bought it. "So that means the real Avengers are walking around town right now," she squealed with her eyes so wide, I thought they were going to fall out.

I tried for my best smile. "That's right. And I'll give you a little secret since you managed to catch us off guard." I leaned forward conspiratorially. "Last I heard they went to the park to eat some ice cream. I don't know if they're still there, but it's your best lead."

"Really?" the girl breathed.

"That what we overheard them saying," I confirmed. "Right, Paul?" I asked Tony, silently telling him to go with it.

He gave her his best dazzling smile. "That's right. Besides, we couldn't possibly be the Avengers. Their Black Widow always wears black."

"Yeah. And their Tony Stark is much better looking," Clint chimed in, trying not to break out in a smile.

Tony's smile became a little strained. "Right."

"You better go before you miss them," Natasha said encouragingly. "They said they would only be there for an hour or so."

"Okay!" the girl said enthusiastically. "You guys are great doubles," she smiled widely at us, then ran off to the park.

I let out a breath and turned back to the others. "Thank the gods," I said. I started back in the direction of the tower, and the others followed me after a moment.

"You're pretty quick, you know," Natasha noticed. "With coming up with something on the spot, I mean."

"I've had lots of practice," I told her as I scanned the area for anymore potential fans of the Avengers. I shook myself out of it after a moment when I realized that this wasn't a war. The fans weren't going to attack us. Probably. "I've been making stuff up like that since I was twelve."

"Still pretty impressive," Steve said, smiling.

"Well, thanks," I said.

After that we made it back to the tower without another incident. We fought over who would press the button again—Clint won this time because Natasha was too busy eyeing her ice cream. Once we made it to the kitchen, Bruce got out seven bowls, and I got the spoons. We went back to the table and handed them out to the others. Once we had our portions scooped into our bowls, Tony clanked his spoon against his bowl to get out attention before we could get a bite.

"I would like to make a toast," he said formally. He ruined the effect by grinning after a second. "To being normal teenagers that eat ice cream with their buddies!"

Clint eyed him critically, then grinned. "Well, I can't say I've ever done this, but yeah, to that!"

We all scooped out a bite of our ice cream and held it in the air at Tony's insistence. We clacked them together sloppily, getting ice cream everywhere. Natasha rolled her eyes, but she permitted herself a small smile anyway.

After that we pretty much ate ice cream until we were stuffed. I looked around at everyone curiously. Tony, Bruce, and Natasha's half-gallon tubs of ice cream were still about halfway full. Steve and Clint probably had about a third left of theirs, and Thor's was completely empty. I glanced at my container. I had about a third left, too.

Tony suddenly sat up straight from where he was slumping in his chair. "You know what I forgot?" he asked with his eyes wide.

"Tony if you say whipped cream, I will hurt you very badly," Natasha managed to growl drowsily. She sat up a little straighter in her seat so she wouldn't fall asleep.

Tony smacked his forehead and groaned. "We have a press conference tomorrow."

I heard a collective groan come from everyone. "Crap," Clint said. "How did we forget that?"

"I don't know. With Percy here, I just kind of forgot," Tony said. He actually looked a little depressed. "Maybe I have the wrong day. Tomorrow isn't Wednesday, right? Please tell me it isn't Wednesday."

"Today is Tuesday," I said. "So what usually comes after Tuesday?"

Tony groaned again. "You're really not helping with my denial of what tomorrow is, kid. You're really not."

"What's so bad about a press conference anyway?" I asked.

"They ask all kinds of annoying and stupid questions," Bruce replied.

Clint sighed resignedly. "It's really just a big waste of time."

"But it must be done." Tony frowned.

"So I'm just gonna hang out here at your tower and stuff?" I asked. Really, what else was there to do? Besides, I could do some exploring in the tower. That would probably take forever, anyway.

Tony nodded. "Yeah, I guess. Conference is at three and probably won't be done for an hour or two." He seemed to go back over what I said. "You can hang out in the tower, but please don't break it. I'm too lazy to fix it again." He wrinkled his nose. "You might get bored."

"I'll be fine," I assured him. I looked down to where our remaining ice cream was slowly melting. "Shouldn't we put this up?"

"Yeah," Steve said, hauling himself to his feet. After we were done, we went and sat down on the couch to watch some TV. Steve had some trouble working the remote at first, but he finally figured it out enough to where he could switch the channel to a baseball game. The Red Sox were playing the Atlanta Braves. Natasha rolled her eyes at the choice but didn't say anything.

Suddenly, I saw a mist connection come up. As the image got clearer, I saw Annabeth with her hair in a messy ponytail at her desk. She had numerous books and plans laid out on her desk in an almost orderly fashion. She finally looked up and smiled when she saw me. I was pretty sure my heart stuttered for a few seconds.

"Got some news for you, Seaweed Brain."

**A/N: That's it, ladies and gents. And, okay, this chapter might have been out of character (it feels like I'm saying that every chapter now), but I just thought that my babies could use some cheering up. Things are definitely starting to speed up now, so we'll just have to see how the next chapter turns out. Leave me a review and tell what you think and/or what I could improve on. Thanks! Until Chapter Eleven!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: As much as I wish I didn't have to do this, I'm going to have to start limiting my updates to once a week—probably on Sundays. It's because school is starting soon, and I just don't have the time to write as much as I used to. So I'll have to stick to Sundays. I'm sorry! Don't worry, I wouldn't dream of abandoning this story. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own them. Any of them. *sobs quietly***

* * *

Chapter Eleven

"Nice to see you, too, Annabeth," I said, grinning. "Oh, and yes, I'm doing fine. Thanks for asking."

"Shut up, Percy," Annabeth laughed.

"What. . ." I heard behind me. I turned to look and saw the team staring in obvious shock at the Iris Message. I thought that maybe I should explain to them what was happening and who this stranger was.

"Guys, this is Annabeth, my girlfriend," I introduced. "She's a daughter of Athena. Annabeth, this is Tony, Bruce, Natasha, Clint, Steve, and Thor," I said, pointing each of them out in turn.

"It's nice to meet you," Steve said as he shook himself out a daze.

"Pleasure's all mine." Annabeth smiled.

"What is that?" Tony asked with his mouth still slightly open.

"Iris Message. If you make a mist and it hits the light just right, it will make a rainbow," Annabeth explained. "You make an offering to the rainbow goddess after that with a golden drachma, and she lets you see and talk to whomever you want. It's called Iris Messaging, or IM-ing."

"That's amazing," Bruce breathed.

"Not to mention handy since we don't use phones," I pointed out. Then I realized that Annabeth had said that she had news. "What did you find?" I asked her expectantly.

"Okay, so in these notes and readings, I managed to get a few ideas of who it could be." She was suddenly very serious and started sifting through some notes. "These readings were powerful. Like, _really _powerful."

I winced. Not good so far. "Like how powerful? On a scale of Big Three gods to Gaea?"

She sighed. "Definitely in the titan range. But that's not counting this other thing I got."

"Wait, there're _two _ultra powerful beings out there that are out there?" I asked, frustrated. We could only barely deal with one at full steam, let alone two. "Are you freaking kidding me? What could possibly still be up and running right now?"

"I don't know." Annabeth impatiently brushed a stray lock of hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. "Whatever it was stayed neutral for the First and Second War. Who knows why they just wanted to rebel now." She shook her head. "But I'm not talking about the powerful Greek thing."

"What do you mean powerful Greek thing?" A sense of dread started growing larger within me. "The other thing _isn't _Greek?"

"Definitely a no," she confirmed. "It doesn't even live here on Earth. It's from somewhere else."

"It's an alien," I groaned. "Great. That's exactly what we need. Something we don't know how to deal with, let alone what it actually is."

"I believe I might know of this otherworldly thing you speak of," Thor said, interrupting the Avengers' silence on me and Annabeth's discussion. "He controlled Loki, and you can definitely count on his immense strength."

"Alright, what is he?" I asked.

"He is known as Thanatos. He is very, very strong." Thor shook his head. "It will be very difficult to defeat him."

I sighed. "Well, at least we have a name." I looked Annabeth. "I'll keep you updated on what we find out. Maybe I'll do some research."

Annabeth smirked. "You? Do research? I'd like to see you sit still enough to type on a computer, let alone be able to unscramble it with your dyslexia."

"I was thinking doing some field work," I said defensively. "Like, see a monster, question it."

"Let me know how that works out for you. I'll do some research to on this Thanatos guy. And see if I can find anything on that titan." She smiled, her grey eyes shining. "It was nice meeting you guys," she told the team. She turned back to me. "The others are going to be so jealous."

"I can imagine Leo's face right now," I chuckled. "Oh, gods, he isn't going to shut up about not getting to see them himself." An idea suddenly popped up in my brain, and I grinned. I turned back to the Avengers. "You guys game for meeting some of my friends back at camp through IM this weekend? They're dying to see you."

"Sounds fine by me," Bruce said. The others nodded along with him.

"Can't wait to see Leo freak out." Annabeth looked like she was imagining what it would be like already.

"Sorry in advance for what Leo might do. There's no telling with that guy." I shook my head, snickering.

The conch horn sounded in the distance through the IM. Annabeth frowned. "I have to go now. That's the dinner horn. I'll talk to you guys later. Stay in touch," she said to me, then waved her hand through the connection.

"Oh my gosh." Tony was grinning like no tomorrow. "That was _amazing._"

"It is pretty cool," I agreed, nodding my head. "Could you explain to me some more about who Thanatos is, Thor? Or, maybe who Loki is?"

That sobered everyone up pretty quickly. It must have been a touchy subject. "Thanatos is a very dangerous being," Thor began hesitantly. "I do not know much about him aside from the fact that he has an army of immense numbers. And that he has made a weapon that can make others his own to command," Thor said uncomfortably, glancing at Clint unconsciously .

"Basically, it's a mind control thing," Tony clarified. "All it takes is a touch of the scepter to the heart and suddenly, you aren't yourself anymore."

An awkward silence filled the room. I tried to think of something, _anything, _to break it. My mind remained stubbornly blank. Clint finally looked up from where he was staring at nothing on the wall opposite him. He opened his mouth to say something several times, then shut it almost immediately after. I knew that he probably had to say something important, and I had a sinking feeling of what it was. I suddenly knew what to say.

"I was possessed before, you know," I said almost conversationally. "By a thing called an eidolon. It was a pretty weird experience. I could only remember things pretty vaguely." I thought back to what happened. "It made me attack my friend, who was actually possessed, too. We ended up almost killing each other. We both got knocked out, and our friend Piper dealt with them after. She forced them to swear to never come back." I smiled softly at the memory.

"That must have been terrible," Steve said, glancing at Clint out of the corner of his eye.

"Something really bad probably happened when you were, you know, controlled, Clint," I said, hoping he wouldn't snap on me. "Just know that there's no possible way you could have stopped yourself from doing whatever. Trust me, I get that." I bit my lip.

Natasha chuckled. "I knew you were smarter than Fury made you out to be," she said warmly.

"Uh, yeah, don't look at my school grades. Those are not good," I laughed and the tension in the room dispersed.

"Thanks, Percy," Clint said quietly. I smiled and nodded my head. Nothing else really needed to be said.

Tony clapped his hands together loudly. "Now, Loki. Loki is literally the god of mischief. He's slippery, and you definitely have to watch out for him. He's pretty powerful and knows how to do magic. From what I could get from when I hacked SHIELD files," Tony said smirking, "he's the highest level they got. Anytime someone sees him, we're immediately called."

"He tried to take over the world," Bruce threw in. "He's like a bag of cats—you can smell crazy on him."

"My brother is indeed delusional," Thor said sadly. "And he has strayed from the path of righteousness. I can only pray that he can find his way back home."

"It's fine, Thor. You know, a god once told me that you should never give up on family," I said as the thunder boomed outside. But for once, I could have sworn it wasn't in a threatening way. "So he worked for Thanatos?" I asked.

"He worked with him, yes. Although, I don't believe he's in touch with him any longer." Thor had a hopeful glint in his eyes. "I believe he is still in an Asgardian cell."

"That's all we know, really," Steve informed me. He shook his head. "It can't be good if this guy Loki was working for is trying to take control of the world again."

"Tell me about it," I muttered.

Clint sighed. "Should we tell Fury about this?"

Tony groaned at the thought. "Jarvis, compose a message to Fury that has the summary of everything to do with our conversation. And tell him we won't be taking any calls until tomorrow before the conference," he added firmly.

"The message has been sent," Jarvis said.

"Thanks, J." Tony reached over and plucked the remote out of Steve's hand. "Who wants to watch a movie?"

"I'll get the popcorn," Bruce said.

Tony frowned. "We don't have any left."

Bruce smirked. "Not that you know of." He walked out of the room to the kitchen.

"I thought we were Science Bros, Brucie!" Tony yelled after him. "Science Bros don't keep secrets!"

Natasha threw a well-aimed pillow at his head to shut him up. I sighed. It was good to have a second family, I thought, smiling.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

One movie later, we were calling goodnight to each other as we sleepily walked off to our rooms. Halfway through the movie, Clint and Tony had started a popcorn war, which somehow included pelting everyone in the room with tons of popcorn, and Natasha had finished it. It wasn't very pretty, but they somehow managed to keep her from smothering them with a pillow.

I took a quick shower and climbed into bed, yawning widely. My eyes shut slowly, and I fell asleep almost immediately.

I wasn't sure when I slipped into the dream, but I did know it wasn't my usual nightmare. This actually felt real.

I surveyed my surroundings with trepidation. I was in a large, tan colored room. There wasn't any furniture except for the one simple chair in front of me. I frowned.

"Hello, little demigod," a deep voice said. I spun around quickly, but there was no one else in the room. "You must be wondering who I am. I'm afraid that should be kept a secret from you." The voice didn't really sound hostile, but it still gave me chills for some reason. The voice felt wrong.

The voice interrupted my musings with a chuckle. "I'm sure we will meet each other soon. You should know that I am not your enemy."

"What do you want?" I asked it.

"It would be appreciated if you would not alert your friends when I come to visit you tomorrow."

"Wait, you're going to what now?" I asked unintelligently. This guy was probably pretty powerful, and I knew I wouldn't be able to fight him if things went south.

"I await our meeting, Perseus Jackson. You and I have much to talk about." The voice chuckled again, and suddenly I was back in bed, staring at the ceiling. I sat up and glanced at the clock. 5:04. I sighed and got up. It wasn't very late, but I knew it was as good as I was going to get.

I threw on some clothes and quickly brushed my teeth. I didn't bother taming my hair and instead walked down to the kitchen to grab something to eat.

I rummaged through the cabinets, seeing if there was anything good. I found some cinnamon flavored poptarts and decided that was good enough. I dropped my poptarts into the toaster. I grabbed an apple from a bowl sitting on the counter and started munching on it. I had finished half of my apple by the time the toaster dinged. I took a plate out and dropped my poptarts onto it. I sat down at the table and kicked my feet up on the chair next to me.

Steve came into the kitchen when I was starting on my second poptart. He said good morning and walked over to the refrigerator to take out some orange juice. He picked out a banana from the bowl of fruit and took a seat across from me.

"Sleep good?" he asked.

"Better than usual," I answered truthfully.

He nodded and took a bite out of his banana. "That's good."

"What are you doing up so early?" I asked, curious.

"I was in the military, you know. That tends to make you wake up early even though you aren't a soldier anymore," he said wryly. "And I've never been a late sleeper, anyway."

"We don't usually sleep very late at camp, either," I said.

"You guys probably have a lot of stuff to do during the day, don't you?"

"Yeah. We train and learn Greek, but we do fun stuff, too. Like we have a campfire every night," I said, smiling.

Bruce walked in right after I said that, rubbing at his eyes groggily. "What about fire?"

Steve rolled his eyes. "Campfire, not fire. I swear Tony's rubbing off on you."

"Tony rubs off on everyone, eventually. He's like a disease," Bruce yawned, turning the coffee pot on.

Clint stumbled in next. "I heard voices. Someone better be making breakfast."

"Make your own breakfast," Bruce shot back. The coffee pot beeped, and Bruce poured himself a cup. He sat down on my right.

Clint grumbled something about putting a trip wire up in the lab and got out the eggs from the refrigerator. He grabbed a skillet and turned on the stove, starting to crack eggs into it.

Natasha gracefully walked in after the smell was strong enough to waft down the hall and into the rooms, I guess. She sat down at the table next to Steve and said, "Make that a double order, Clint."

Clint sighed. "What else do I have to live for?"

"Shut up, Katniss," Tony said grumpily as he sprawled out in a chair on the left of me. "And make that three orders."

"I hate all of you," Clint muttered.

"Do I smell eggs?" Thor asked.

Clint groaned and cracked more eggs into the pan. "Sit down, Thor, I'll get your freaking eggs."

Thor frowned. "I do not understand. Why is Clint frustrated?"

"He's not a morning person," Tony mumbled.

Thor shook his head and said something about never understanding Midgardians. I smiled. They were worse than some of the Ares cabin at camp.

Once Clint was done, he doled out the servings to Natasha, Tony, and Thor. Bruce adjusted his glasses. "When do we have to be there for the meeting, Jarvis?"

"Director Fury would like you to be there at twelve o' clock," Jarvis replied.

"Crap, Fury, come on," Tony complained. "Give us a break."

"What time is the conference?" I asked.

"It begins at one o' clock, sir," Jarvis answered.

"So why's he making you get there that early?" I furrowed my brow.

"To talk about you," Natasha said bluntly. "He's so obvious. He couldn't have done it a little more subtly?"

"Guess not," Steve said.

"What are we to do until we must get ready? It is only seven o'clock," Thor pointed out.

Tony snapped his fingers. "Hey Point Break, why don't you spar with Ariel here? Percy looks like he could take you."

"I don't know about that," I started to say.

"It would be an honor to spar with you, young friend," Thor said beaming. "I promise I will not strike you with lightning as hard as my enemies."

I was tempted to turn it down as politely as I could manage because hello, god of thunder here, but then I imagined the look Thor would give me. Like I had just kicked his puppy or something. "As long as you go easy on me," I decided on saying. "Thalia's fried me good a few times, and I don't really want a repeat."

"Of course. I will push you as hard as you push me," Thor said.

I thought back to a few times Tyson clapped me on the shoulder and ended up making my knees buckle. I figured Thor would be just like that. He wouldn't mean to squish you to death, but he just forgets he's so strong and that we puny mortals definitely aren't.

"To the gym we go!" Tony said cheerfully.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Okay, so are there any particular rules?" We were in the middle of a humongous gym that looked like it took up the whole floor except for the bathroom, which had showers and a hot tub.

Thor shook his head. "All powers are acceptable. I would not recommend either of us using them to our full extent."

"Agreed. And let's not maim each other, please. You know, beyond the typical bruising that is." I winced. I knew I was going to have my butt handed to me on a silver platter. This was a terrible idea.

"Sounds good to me," Tony said. "Have fun with Point Break, Perce. He's pretty rough." I smiled evilly at me. "And I was in my suit."

My eyes widened. Definitely not a good idea. Did I have a death wish? I wondered if it was too late to back out now.

"You'll be fine, Percy," Bruce assured me. "He's only going to play you as hard as you play him."

That wasn't as comforting as it should be. I nodded. "Let's just hurry up and do this before I change my mind."

"Alright, you guys ready?" Clint asked from the rafters. I wasn't entirely sure how he got up there, but I had a sneaking suspicion it was from the vents.

Thor and I spread out about ten feet between us. I saw him get in a ready stance with his famous hammer, and I took out Riptide and tried not to look scared. _Come on, Percy_, I told myself. _You've fought Kronos _and_ Gaea, man up. _

Clint yelled go from the rafters, and Thor instantly shot a low-energy bolt of lightning at me. I dodged quickly and felt for the water in the bathroom. Time to do some damage.

Thor leapt at me, swinging his hammer, and I brought Riptide up to parry. He feinted to the left and went for a blow at my midsection from the right. I was expecting it, though. I dropped to the floor and felt Mjölnir swoosh over me. I swept Thor's feet out from under him and quickly bounced back as I turned my water into blunt icicles and hurled them at him. He raised his hammer and called down lightning to fry them.

He grinned at me. "It seems I will have to try harder against you, young hero!" he called.

I opened my mouth to tell him that no, he really didn't have to do that when I felt the hairs on my arm stand up. I plastered myself to the floor as lightning made a swooping arch over me and made a black spot on the wall. Some of it must have managed to graze me though because I felt the familiar buzz and smelled burning hair. Thor rushed me again, trying to get me while I was down. I rolled over and felt the hammer smash the floor where I had been a few moments ago. I stood up and brought my sword up to block the strike Thor had sent at my head.

We became a whirlwind of blocks, strikes, and power. Thor was really, really good. We went on fighting for what seemed like ages. I felt my arms getting tired, and I knew the fight was drawing to a close. In a moment of weakness, Thor knocked my sword out of my hand and smiled. The air started to smell like ozone, and I knew what was coming. I got an idea suddenly, and I quickly gathered all the water I could and held it in a ball in front of me. I slowly backed up a few paces.

Thor laughed. "Water and electricity do not mix well."

I sent the water at him at the highest speed I could and watched as he flicked the water up to the ceiling.

He raised his hammer, and I felt the air start to crackle. "You missed."

I smiled. "I wasn't aiming for you." I looked up to the light fixture on the ceiling at the same time Thor saw it come crashing down on top of him. It crumbled into a heap on top of him. I used my powers to make sure it didn't electrocute him or anyone else in the room but left the getting untangled part to him. I wasn't going anywhere near that electrical stuff.

I had mostly caught my breath by the time Thor got out of all the wires. He smiled widely at me and held out his hand for me to shake. I took it warily. He shook it warmly. "Well done, Perseus. It was quite a challenge fighting you. I have not had a challenge as such in quite some time. It was very enjoyable."

"Not to mention completely freaking _awesome _to watch," Tony said, his eyes wide. "Kid, you're really good."

I felt my face redden. "Thanks. I hoped that whole light fixture thing would work." I rubbed the back of my neck. "Otherwise, I was going to become charred fish."

They all laughed. Thor clapped me on the shoulder heartily and I felt my knees give out just a fraction. "I would not object to doing that again sometime."

"Yeah, I'll wait a while though," I said. "I'm pretty sure my elbows are going to be permanently bruised from having to hit the deck so many times."

"Sir," Jarvis interrupted. "I would like to inform you that you are expected to be with Fury in one hour."

Wow, it was already eleven? Time had gone by so fast. I guess we had taken our time setting up for the fight. We hadn't even gone to the gym until thirty minutes after Tony said to.

"We need to go get dressed," Natasha sighed. We all walked to the elevator. Natasha let me have the honor of pushing the button since I had "earned it."

We separated at our rooms to get dressed, or in my case, to take a shower. I probably stunk pretty badly. I still smelled that burnt-hair smell on me. Gross.

I took my time in the shower. When I got out, it was 11:20. I got dressed and went to the kitchen. The others were already there eating lunch before they had to go.

"We made you a ham sandwich," Clint said with one of his cheeks bulging, pointing at the sandwich on the table.

"You mean Bruce made him a sandwich," Natasha corrected, staring disapprovingly at how full Clint's mouth was.

"Thanks." I sat down and dug in. I was starving; sparring with a god was hard work.

"We should be back at around 3:30," Tony said. "That's if Fury doesn't want to talk to us again."

I shrugged. "It's fine. I'll probably just watch a movie or something. Or maybe explore the tower a little."

Steve glanced at his watch and hurriedly finished the rest of his sandwich. "We have to go, guys. It takes thirty minutes to get over there. Fury will kill us if we're late to talk to him."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Fury can take that talk and shove it right up his—"

"We'll see you later, Percy," Bruce interrupted, shooting a glare at Tony.

Tony groaned as he dragged himself out with the others. "I would rather go to a board meeting than do this."

The others' retorts were swallowed by the elevator doors closing. I decided that watching a movie would be good. I was feeling a little tired, anyway. I grabbed my remaining ice cream and made my way over to the couch. I flopped onto it and reached for the remote. I was just making a decision between the movies _The Hobbit _and _Clash of the Titans _(I was just curious to see what it was like, okay?) when I noticed a god-like presence that was in the room. I was about to make some comment about it being rude to sneak up on people when I froze.

That presence was not my dad or any other god that would come to visit.

I sprang up off the couch and held Riptide out in front of me. The intruder had black hair and green eyes that stood out against his pale skin. He was wearing this fancy armor that vaguely resembled Thor's, except it was green and black and not as bulky. He was wearing a smug smirk.

"Who the Hades are you, and what do you want?" I growled, trying to sound threatening.

The intruder smiled. "Have you forgotten me so soon?" His voice sounded really familiar, for some reason. Almost like I had heard it before. "I assumed your little friends would have told you all about me."

He walked around the couch leisurely and stopped a few feet from me, ignoring my sword. He smiled at me, I knew immediately that I should _not _trust this guy.

"My name is Loki, god of mischief," he said. "I told you I was coming."

**A/N: Ah, yet another cliffie. I'm starting to understand why trolls like Rick enjoy doing this. It makes you feel very powerful to know that you just ruined someone's day. Haha, no, just kidding. So, anyway, leave me a review and tell me what you thought about the fight scene. Stupid? Good? Weird? If you thought it was bad, please tell me how I could get better. Thanks! Until Chapter Twelve on Sunday, lads.**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Okay, I feel really stupid. Most of you caught that it was Thanos, not Thanatos. The sad thing is that I double checked it before I posted it and told myself it wasn't Thanatos, and somehow my brain latched on to just the Thanatos part. So, sorry if it annoyed you. It annoyed me. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't and probably will never own Percy Jackson or the Avengers.**

* * *

Chapter Twelve

"You're Loki," I said with my eyes wide. "You're the person who was in my dream last night."

Loki smiled at me, but it mostly looked like he was baring his teeth. "So your friends did tell you about me. I can only imagine what they said."

"The usual," I said, finally getting over my shock. "Just you trying and failing to take over the world."

"I did not break out of a highly guarded prison to be insulted by a demigod brat," Loki said coldly, dropping his smile in favor of a scowl.

"Must not have been guarded too well," I noticed. "If you didn't bust out for that, then why did you?"

"To save your useless backsides," he retorted.

"Who said we need saving?" I asked. He would only raise his eyebrow."Why I should trust you?" I asked skeptically. "How do I know you aren't still working for Thanos?"

Loki opened his mouth to say something when Jarvis interrupted. "Sir, I will call the Avengers immediately."

"Wait!" I said. I'm not sure who was more surprised: me or Loki. "Wait Jarvis. I don't think he wants to hurt me." I glanced over Loki once, making sure I had read him right.

Jarvis hesitated. "I must notify the Avengers about this."

"You can. After we talk though," I said, looking at Loki. "If Loki makes a hostile move towards me, then you make the distress call. I want to see what he says."

If Jarvis could sigh, I think he would've. "As you wish, sir. I will call the Avengers as soon as you are done conversing."

"That's fine," I told him. I turned back to Loki. "Start explaining."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "How very rude of you. Aren't you going to ask me if I would like to sit?"

"No," I said bluntly. "I don't trust you." When I saw that he was about to make a rude comment, I explained myself more. "Not because of what the Avengers said, necessarily. Because I don't know you. Something tells me you might actually want to help." For some reason, Loki reminded me of someone. I just couldn't put my finger on who though.

I sat down on the couch and propped my feet up. I waited for Loki to sit in the recliner diagonal to me. He looked at me for a moment, then gracefully situated himself on the recliner.

"I am not working for the Chitauri any longer, believe me or not," Loki started out. "I did not really want to work for them in the first place."

"Then why did you?" I asked.

"Because I had no choice," Loki said simply. "The reason I came here is to inform you that Thanos and his army is indeed rising again. You will have a very slim chance of defeating him."

"We kind of already figured that out."

He smiled humorlessly. "You might be wondering why I have decided to help you. That is also because I have no choice."

"Why's that?" I prompted.

"Thanos said that if I lost to you Midgardians that I would wish for something as sweet as death." Loki grimaced slightly before slipping his mask back into place. "I have no reason to believe that he will not make good on his promise."

"So you're saving our butts to save your own," I summed up.

Loki smiled wryly. "Hm, maybe there's hope for you after all."

"Alright, I'll believe you for now," I told him, "but that can't be all you want to tell me."

Loki shook his head. "It is not. You need to be aware that Thanos and his army are nearly undefeatable. He himself has great power, and his army is endless. Luckily, they are not the smartest of creatures."

I waved my hand in a "go on" gesture. Loki rolled his eyes, but continued. "You will need the aid of your demigod brat friends, and the Asgardians."

"Alright, so those might present a problem." I thought back to camp. My friends were hardly in fighting spirits. "And your brother will have to deal with the Asgard part."

"That great oaf is _not _my brother," Loki hissed.

I didn't even blink. "Yes, he is. You know the saying. Not by blood, but by bond, and all that stuff."

Loki's eyes hardened. "We have no bond. Nor will we ever."

"Really? Because it sounds like you're trying harder to convince yourself than me." I wasn't sure why I was saying this. It really wasn't any of my business, and I didn't actually have a death wish, but I felt like this needed to be said.

Loki visibly stiffened. "It would be detrimental to your health to continue."

"Since I barely know what detrimental means, I'm going to continue anyway," I said flippantly. "You know," I said, pointing to him. "You remind me of someone. Up until now, I couldn't put my finger on who, but I think I got it now."

"Pray tell, whom?" Loki asked, his voice almost dangerously soft.

"Luke Castellan."

"If you think that I am _anything _like that upstart brat, than you are severely mistaken," Loki said evenly, obviously trying to keep himself calm. I must have hit a sore spot.

"Listen, I'm not trying to go all into that understanding mode stuff or whatever with you, but I'm just saying. Think about it." I sighed and rubbed at my eyes. I seriously needed more sleep. "Anything else you want to share with the class, Loki?"

His posture relaxed a fraction at the subject change. "You do realize that Thanos isn't going to give up in his endeavors to conquer Midgard. He is persistent, and he is cunning. And I have reason to believe that he is working with a titan." Loki locked his eyes with my own. "This might just be up to the standard of the Second War. You need to be prepared."

I swallowed. Could I even handle another war like that? If I was being truthful, the answer would be a big fat _I have no idea. _"Prepare myself how?"

Loki looked up to the heavens. "Great Valhalla, is your brain really filled with seaweed?" Loki shook his head a little and looked back at me. "You practice. Practice what, Loki, you may ask. Your powers."

"I can practice all I want, but I don't think it will be enough."

"It's better than what you're doing now. Which is sitting on your backside being utterly useless," Loki said, his eyes gleaming.

"It's no use practicing my powers like that. I need to have someone push me," I said almost to myself.

"Well, it's either let me push you, or get one of your little friends to. If I were you, I might pick friends."

I winced. "Yeah, because that's going to go over well. I need to practice my powers because Loki told me to. Wanna help? They might not listen to me."

Loki gave me a _you're an idiot_ look. "Well then, I suppose you might have to use your delightful powers of persuasion."

"It's not that simple," I replied, frustrated. "If they even _mention _this to Fury, I'm dead."

Loki shrugged. "Not my concern. Whatever transpires after I leave is completely on you."

I stared at him for a moment. "You're enjoying this."

"Very much, yes," he grinned, and not in a tender love and kindness kind of way. He stood up. "I believe I'll be taking my leave now. Good luck dealing with your friends. I will make another visit to you quite soon, I would imagine."

"Remember what I said, Loki," I called, right before he disappeared. I figured I could at least try to get him to change. It was better than getting a moping Thor for a day. Believe me, you do _not _want that under any circumstances. It might have been my imagination, but before Loki flashed out, I could have sworn he nodded imperceptibly. I dismissed as a trick of the light.

I looked around the room, not really knowing what to do. That movie I planned on watching seemed dull and boring now. The popcorn was cold and stale on the table. "Well," I muttered to myself, "I guess I should head to the pool."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

I woke up to someone shaking me.

"Hey, Perce," the voice was saying.

"Ugh," I groaned. What time was it? I opened my eyes and saw the pool. I frowned in confusion. Did I really fall asleep here? Talk about your low standards.

"Hey, bud, wake up," the voice said again. I finally looked up and saw Clint. The rest of the team was behind him. They seemed mildly concerned and were still in their clothes from the conference. They must have just gotten home.

"I'm up," I grumbled. It was way too bright here, I decided. I was really, really tired, too. Okay, so maybe I had pushed myself just a _little _bit too hard after my little morning session with Thor.

"Okay, I know my floors are amazing, but I think I could find a better place to sleep," Tony commented.

I sat up, and my body disagreed with the way I was sleeping. I must have slid down from where I was sitting with my back against the wall while I was resting. I had a nasty crick in my neck and my back was sore from sleeping hunched up. I rubbed my eyes.

"I didn't mean to fall asleep in here," I said.

"Why don't we go somewhere more comfortable?" Steve suggested. "We've got a lot to talk about."

I froze where I was getting up. It all came rushing back at me. The meeting with Loki. I furtively glanced up at the others, but they didn't look angry or upset. I hoped that was a good thing.

I stood up straight, my back making loud popping noises. We made our way to the elevator. Bruce pushed the Avengers' Floor button.

I was pretty sure that was the most awkward elevator ride with the Avengers I'd ever had the pleasure of taking.

We went to the living room, and I immediately sat down heavily on the couch. The others fanned out to the places they usually took. Steve, Thor, and Tony sat down on the couch, Bruce sat in the arm chair, and Natasha and Clint took the small loveseat.

"So," Tony began.

"So," I repeated.

"You probably want to tell us something," he continued.

"Define want."

Tony gave me a look, and I relented.

"Okay, so I need to tell you something," I said. I thought for a moment. "Hey, Jarvis?"

"Sir?" he asked politely.

"Did you play the tape of me and Loki yet?" I saw Clint shift out of the corner of my eye.

"No," Jarvis replied. Huh, I would have thought he would've.

"Do you think that we could play it back for them on the TV?" I figured that this would be a lot easier than explaining and a lot clearer.

"Of course, sir." The TV clicked on by itself and an image came up of when Loki first appeared in the room.

"Play, Jarvis," Tony told him.

The image started to move, and I held my breath throughout the whole thing. What would they think? Would they get mad at me? Would I get in trouble for not reporting him immediately? I probably should have, but that just didn't seem like the right option. Something told me that Loki really wasn't lying about what he said.

At the end, they all sat in silence for a few minutes, digesting what they had heard. I started sweating around the three minute marker.

Finally, it was Tony who decided to break the silence. "Reindeer Games visited you in your dreams last night?"

"Yes," I confirmed.

"And you didn't tell us?" Steve asked, almost disapprovingly.

"I thought it was just another nightmare," I said defensively. And really, I had. Because when was the last time I actually had a normal demigod dream and not a nightmare?

Bruce shrugged. "Okay, I get what you're saying."

I let out a small breath. So far, not too bad.

"You probably still should have told us something, though. Make sure to tell us next time, okay?" Natasha said.

"Okay," I mumbled, embarrassed.

"Do you think he's telling the truth?" Steve asked.

I hesitated. I would have to tread carefully from this point on. "Yes," I finally said.

They all opened their mouth to say something, but I cut them off quickly. "I know what you're going to say. He's the god of lies and mischief, and I shouldn't trust him." I waved my hands trying to figure out some way to convince them. "I know that. I don't necessarily trust him, but I'm willing to look in to what he told me."

Clint scowled. "I really don't like the fact that _he's _going to be our inside man."

"That makes two of us," I said.

"What you said to him during the talk," Thor said. He had a strange look on his face that I couldn't place. "Was that true?"

"What did I say to him?" I asked blankly.

"About Luke Castellan," he clarified, still looking at me with the same strange look.

I shifted my eyes down to my lap. "Um, if I tell you yes, are you going to react in a good way or a bad way?"

Thor smiled. "I should like to think a good way."

"Then yes."

Tony looked between us, confused. "You lost me."

"Maybe I'll tell you the uncut version of Luke later," I said. "It's a really long story."

"Okay, fine," Tony let the matter drop. "Why did you decide to take a nap on the tile?"

"Oh, uh, that was actually unintentional," I said, my face turning a light shade of red. "I was practicing my powers, and I was done. So I sat down to catch my breath for a second, and I must have fallen asleep."

"You didn't look too comfortable," Natasha said.

I stretched my neck again. "That's because I wasn't."

"You didn't think that maybe you should come lay down on a couch or something before you fell asleep?" Tony asked, a teasing glint in his eyes.

"I didn't mean to fall asleep on the floor," I huffed. "Trust me, I wouldn't have done it if I knew I was going to get a giant crick in my neck."

Bruce rolled his eyes. "Don't you want to tell him about our conference, Tony?"

Tony's eyes lit up at the same time Steve groaned. "He was unbearable," Steve said.

"I was perfectly well-behaved during the conference, thank you," he protested.

"We weren't talking about the press conference," Natasha said, sighing deeply.

"What'd you do?" I asked. I knew Tony could be handful at times. One of the many reasons he reminded me of the Stolls or maybe Leo. I would almost bet that he was ADHD. Almost.

"He provoked Fury more than usual," Clint said gleefully.

Steve shook his head disapprovingly. "Don't encourage him, Clint."

"It wasn't even that bad." We all gave him a look. He broke after a few seconds. "Alright, so maybe I was trying to make Fury mad."

"Director Fury did indeed seem more liable to snap than usual after our meeting," Thor said thoughtfully, as if just now reasoning why his kind-of boss was so angry.

"I just made a few comments about his eye patch and coat," Tony said. "He was being annoying and ruder than usually, so I just made a few helpful observations." I smirked at the word helpful. "He was telling us about that meeting you're gonna have tomorrow with the Council."

I felt my mouth fall open an inch as I processed what he said. Had I seriously forgotten that? I guess with Loki showing up, it was bound to happen. I found that I was dreading it even more than when Fury first told me. "I can't go to the meeting."

Steve furrowed his brows. "Why not?"

"I'm having a headache tomorrow. And maybe the stomach flu."

"It's not going to be that bad," Natasha promised. "I've been in a meeting with them more than I can count on one hand. You just can't let them get under your skin. Stay emotionless and detached."

"Don't let them know your weakness. Or weaknesses," Clint said, stressing the plural.

"Tell them just enough about your life that lets them know who you are, what you are, and what you're capable of. Don't give them too many details unless they ask for them." Natasha shook her head. "Actually, just give them what they ask for. Don't give them anything extra."

"And don't get mad at them," Clint finished. "They're going to try and make you mad. Don't let them. Whatever they say doesn't matter."

I let out a gust of air. "Okay. Anything else?"

"Yeah," Tony said. "Don't tick them off."

I smiled briefly. "No promises."

Bruce stood up. "You need to take a nap." He held up his hand when I started to complain. "I don't care if it's six thirty. You can't keep your eyes open. And it wouldn't be a very good first impression if you walked into the meeting with huge bags under your eyes."

I tried unsuccessfully to suppress a yawn. "What? I'm fine."

Tony smirked. "Go eat something, then sleep. You're probably hungry."

I walked over to the kitchen with my eyes half open. I sloppily put together a sandwich and ate it. When I finished, I felt sleepier than I had when I started, which I didn't think was possible. I stumbled past the living room into my bedroom as a chorus of "goodnights" and "don't let the bed bugs bite" followed after me.

I took a quick shower and climbed out of bed. I lay there, thinking about what I had said to Loki about Luke Castellan. I was surprised to find that I actually believed what I told him. He did remind me of Luke. He obviously thought his father didn't love him, and while that might have been the case, his brother did actually love him.

I thought about reasons as to why he would attack New York. Maybe he felt pressured into it? Did he somewhere down the line think that he might as well, since he had nothing to lose? I think I could've picked something better. Like skydiving.

But even if that was the case and he really was evil, I couldn't help but think that he really was telling the truth about wanting to help us. I had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn't just because he wanted to save his own hide, either. I hoped that he would turn out to be a hero like Luke did.

I finally let my eyes slip shut, shutting out all thoughts about Loki and the incoming war. And even though it was only seven o' clock, I found myself drifting off quickly, forgetting temporarily about the meeting tomorrow.

**A/N: And that's it! Let me know what you thought. Maybe what I could improve upon? *wiggles eyebrows* Please? Thanks for all your support! It means a lot to me. See you next Sunday!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Can I just start this chapter with a giant happy birthday to Percy Jackson! I hope you eat lots of blue cake. :) Anyway, enjoy this chapter! I've got some action going on in it…**

**And check out my new one-shot I wrote for mythologyrox! I might even make it into a two-shot, eventually. You know, once I find the time.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the birthday boy or the Avengers.**

* * *

Chapter Thirteen

I woke up feeling not exactly refreshed since I woke up via nightmare, but I felt rested enough. I got up and arched my back in a stretch, trying to get the kinks out. I threw on some jeans and a t-shirt and brushed my teeth. I walked out of my room, sleepily rubbing my eyes. I was walking blindly, basically.

Which might be one of the reasons I literally ran into Bruce.

"Oh my gods!" I exclaimed. I quickly scrambled away a few steps. My heart was hammering. Man, I thought, I can't deal with these early morning scares like I used to.

"Percy?" Bruce mumbled. It sounded like he was still asleep. He felt around for his glasses—which I had accidently knocked askew on his face. He finally located them and fumbled around for a few moments until he had them settled properly.

"Sorry," I apologized. "I wasn't looking where I was going and bumped into you."

"Oh."

"Are you even awake?" I asked. It was looking pretty doubtful right now.

"Not until I get my coffee," came the reply.

I shook my head at everyone's need for coffee in this tower and lead the way into the kitchen.

When we got there, the smell of burning toast and metal was _very _noticeable. I saw a huge blonde by the toaster and instantly knew it was Thor. The god of Thunder was waving a large hand over the toaster almost frantically. The toaster was sitting there dejectedly, very much looking like a charred lump on the counter.

I heard Bruce sigh next to me. "It's too early in the morning for this," I heard him mutter. He calmly walked over to the coffee machine and turned it on, ignoring the mess.

I heard Thor curse under his breath and watched as he tried to stop the toaster from smoking. "Foul Asgardian machine."

"Let me help you." I grabbed some water and made my way over to him. As I poured water over the smelly mess, a question bothered me about this whole conversation. "What did you do to make it catch fire?"

Thor frowned. "I think I might have left the toast in for too long. And then I accidently made a surge of lightning go through it because the noise surprised me."

I stared at him for a moment, then went back to my job. I didn't think I would ever understand how much the Avengers could destroy when they weren't even trying.

Once it had stopped smoking, I threw it in the garbage can. "Can't use that anymore."

Thor just continued to look confused. I guess they didn't have toasters in Asgard then.

Tony chose that moment to walk in wearing Iron Man sleep pants and a Black Sabbath t-shirt. "Why is something burning this early in the morning?"

"I apologize, Man of Iron," Thor said sincerely. "That vile Asgardian machine is now in the can of garbage."

Tony blinked and went over to the coffee machine. He tried nudging Bruce over, who was busy putting a spoonful of sugar in his coffee, but Bruce was having none of that. He just calmly kept pouring his coffee, shoving an elbow into Tony's stomach. Tony stumbled back a pace.

"I just need some coffee, Bruce," Tony whined.

"Sure," Bruce said. "Right after I'm done fixing mine."

Tony sighed impatiently and all but ran Bruce over when Bruce was walking away with his steaming mug of coffee.

"Does everyone here have an addiction to coffee?" I asked.

"Yes," Steve said from the doorway. He looked like he had just gotten back from a run. He had on sweat pants and a t-shirt and some beat up tennis shoes.

"Are Natasha and Clint awake?" I heard Tony mumble around his coffee. He had his feet propped up on the chair next to him.

"I think they are," Steve said. "They might be in the gym."

"Jarvis, what time is Percy's meeting?" Bruce asked.

"Twelve o'clock, Dr. Banner."

"Crap," I groaned. I was seriously thinking about skipping. I mean, it would probably make me a hunted fugitive or something like that, but it might be worth it. There was no way the Council was going to let me stay on the team once they knew who I was and what I've done. I'm pretty sure destroying half a city or blowing up a volcano doesn't sit too well on your résumé.

"You might want to be there ten minutes early," Steve said, grabbing a granola bar from the cabinets.

"Where exactly is 'there?'" I asked.

"SHIELD headquarters. I'll give you a map," Steve told me.

So. SHIELD headquarters is where they have super-secret meetings about things that no one else in the country knows about. That's only a little bit scary. Okay, so maybe I'm really nervous. They could get rid of me. No one would ever find me again. I wondered how many times they've done that before.

"Okay thanks," I said, a little relieved now that I wouldn't get lost at least. Hopefully I could read the map with my dyslexia. "What time is it now, Jarvis?"

"It's nine thirty, sir," he said in usual cool, British voice.

"Okay," I said, mildly surprised I had slept that late, even with the nightmare. When was the last time I had slept for that long? I must have been bone tired from my little work-outs. "I should probably IM Annabeth. I need to tell her about all this new stuff." We needed to catch up and swap information, anyway. And if I was being perfectly honest with myself, I was missing her a little. Okay, and I was missing camp a little, too.

I couldn't wait to have our little IM chat between both my friends. It would be really fun. And very, very interesting.

But first things first: I needed to survive my meeting with the mysterious Council.

"Yeah, sure," Tony said, waving a hand in the air. "Off you go. I know you're dying to talk to her again." He nodded at me knowingly, smiling. I blushed and tried not to trip over my own feet as I hurried out the kitchen.

I IM-ed Annabeth for a good hour. We didn't actually mean to IM for that long, but we kind of lost track of time. I gave her the information on Loki and what he said, and she said she almost had which titan Thanos was working with. I really only meant to ask her how her day was going, honest, but somehow we just started talking about anything and everything. Annabeth always managed to do that to me. And really, I couldn't bring myself to be even mildly annoyed because it was_ Annabeth. _And come on, did I really think I even had a chance to resist her in the first place?

Not even a little.

After we were done talking, I got up and paced around the room. I felt jittery and anxious. What if I blew this meeting completely? What if I behaved and everything and they s_till _didn't like me? The team was going to be watching, I reminded myself. I couldn't mess this up for them. Not to mention the gods would be really mad at me. I couldn't stand to see my dad's disappointed face.

_Enough,_ I told myself. Walking around like an idiot wasn't going to do anything. What does someone do to calm themselves down and let off some steam?

They go for a run.

I laced up my old tennis shoes and checked my pocket to make sure Riptide was there. Force of habit, I thought, shrugging.

On my way out of the tower through the living room, I stopped by to let them know where I was going. "Hey, I'm going for a run," I said. "But don't worry I'll be back at about eleven fifteen."

Clint frowned. "You alright, Perce?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," I said, brushing aside his concerns. "I've just got too much energy right now. Be back soon." Tony stood up and put his hand on my shoulder to stop me.

"Before you go, I've got something for you." He pulled a shiny, very _new _looking phone out of his pocket. "This is for you."

"Well, that's really nice of you, but I can't have a phone. Remember the whole monsters thing?" I reminded him.

"Yeah, I fixed that problem. With this phone, you can use it without monsters catching the signal," he said proudly.

That was . . . almost impossible. I didn't even know if that was possible. Could I really use it? I guess if there was a person to invent something like this, it'd be Tony.

"How'd you do that?" I asked curiously.

Tony gave me a look. "Do you really want me to explain that?"

I thought about it for a moment then shook my head. "How about a rain check on that one?"

Bruce chuckled. "It is a little complicated."

Natasha's eyes flashed mischievously. "It already has all of our contacts in it with special ring tones. Don't worry."

I groaned. "I can only imagine what you put on here." I started out the door. "Thanks a lot for the phone, Tony. I'll try not to break it."

Tony and the others waved at me and said something about driving me to the meeting. I nodded and said a final "bye" and went to the elevator. I pressed the button to the bottom floor and waited.

"Sir," Jarvis said to get my attention. "I wanted to notify you that I am always connected to your cellular phone. If you need something, I can always answer."

Huh. That's pretty neat. And handy. "Sure thing, Jarvis. Thanks."

The elevator gave a cheery _ding, _and I stepped out into the lobby area. I pulled open the door to the entrance and stepped out into the beautiful sunlight. I took a deep breath and smiled. It felt awesome out here. One of those days where it wasn't too cold, and it wasn't too hot. Perfect. I decided to go to the left and took off in a steady jog.

I let the steady beat of my shoes on the pavement soothe me. Breathe in, out; in, out. I actually wasn't in bad shape. I wasn't breathing like it was nothing, but I wasn't puffing air either. It was surprising seeing as I had just started training again at camp, as had everyone else.

After about thirty minutes, I was in the park. I sat down on a nearby bench for a little rest. Suddenly, my ears picked up on a strange sound coming from what seemed to be in the area very near to where I was.

It was a little girl screaming.

I immediately sprang to my feet and took off in a dead sprint to my right, where it seemed the noise was coming from. I saw a little girl being pinned by a hellhound behind a cluster of trees and bushes.

The hellhound wasn't as big as I was used to seeing them. It was around the size of a small van, but it was still vicious. And it still hated weird-smelling demigods like me.

"Hey, ugly!" I yelled. I had to distract it so the little girl could get away, or at least far back enough to where she wouldn't get hurt. It whipped its head in my direction and snarled, its eyes flashing in rage. It took its front paw off of the little girl's chest, and she scrambled up unsteadily. "Run!" I shouted as I dug Riptide out. The hellhound charged me once I had uncapped Riptide.

What it lacked in size, it definitely made up for in speed. This was the fastest hellhound I had ever had the unfortunate pleasure to encounter. And it was insanely vicious. Maybe I had killed one of his ugly brothers or sisters.

Whatever it was, its eyes gleamed with hate as it made another swipe with its claws at my head. I ducked and jabbed at its left paw. The gash I left was about a foot long, and all that did was make the thing mad. It snapped at my arm with its huge jaws, and I quickly rolled to avoid it.

The hellhound stood still for a moment. Then before I could even blink, it pounced on me. The huge dog held me down with both its huge paws and slobbered all over me while slowly lifting its paw to make a long scrape down the side of my face. Then it slammed its paw down on my left arm, making a huge gash. I winced. It felt like my face and arm were on fire.

I turned my head to the right and saw Riptide. I made a grab for it and felt my fingertips barely graze it. The dog suddenly growled, and as I turned my head back to look at it, the dog was baring his teeth victoriously at me. He opened his mouth wide, no doubt to take a bite out of fresh demigod meat, when a rock collided with the side of his head.

"Leave him alone!" the little girl from before screamed. She threw another rock at him.

While that didn't do anything but make the dog angrier, it did give me time to make a lunge to the side for my sword. I plunged the tip of the sword into its heart right as he looked back at me.

"Bad dog," I told him. He exploded into dust all over me. I coughed out some of the monster dust from my mouth. "Gross," I muttered. I started to dust off, then I froze, remembering the little girl. I jogged over to her.

She had long, curly brown hair. Her eyes were a pretty blue. She was wearing a t-shirt that said "Girls play sports, too!" and some jeans. She looked to be about eight or nine. Her skin was tanned, like she spent a lot of time outside.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

She nodded shakily. "Yeah. Are you okay?" Her brow furrowed and she frowned, looking me over critically.

I looked down at my arm, which wasn't bleeding as bad as expected. The scrape was about a foot and a half long. It started at my shoulder and ended just below my elbow. I felt the side of my face and felt sticky blood. My shirt was pretty torn up, and my jeans were really dirty from rolling around on the ground. "I'll be fine," I assured her. "I've had much worse. What's your name?"

"My name's Rose."

"Rose," I repeated. "Pretty name." She blushed. "My name's Percy."

"Thank you for saving me from the dog, Percy," Rose said, smiling shyly. "You're really brave."

"No problem. It's what I do," I told her. "How about we get you home?"

Her reaction was instant. Her eyes instantly widened, and she shook her head quickly. "No!" Rose lip quivered slightly like she was going to cry.

I knelt down to her level. "Hey, what's the matter? You don't want to go home?" She shook her head again and hugged her arms around her body. "Okay," I said slowly. "Why not? Did something bad happen?"

"My dad hates me," she said sadly.

"I'm sure he doesn't. What about your mom?" I asked.

"My mom died in a car crash when I was five." She blinked rapidly, her eyes getting a little moist. She looked like she was forcing herself to cry.

"So it's just you and your dad, then?" She nodded. Suddenly, I noticed something I hadn't before: I bruise on her arm. I scooted forward with a bad feeling about this. I gently took her arm and examined the bruises. I placed a finger over each and realized they made a perfect hand print. What Rose said had made sense: she said her dad hated her.

I felt an anger growing in me. I closed my eyes to get control of myself. "Does your dad hurt you?" I had to be sure. Rose just looked at me with huge doe eyes. I pulled her into a hug. "Well, I can promise you something. He's never going to hurt you again, okay?"

"What do you mean?" She asked, confused. I finally pulled away and put my hands on her shoulders.

"How would you like to go live with a group of girls that would be like your sisters?"

Rose blinked. "I wouldn't go back home?"

"Nope," I confirmed. "You would stay with them forever. You wouldn't go home, and you would travel with them."

Her face brightened. "I wouldn't have to go to school?"

I laughed. Rose had her priorities straight, for sure. "No, you wouldn't have to go to school. But you have to know you wouldn't get to visit your friends or anyone else you know again most probably."

Rose smiled. "That's okay. I don't have any friends or family left. When can I go with them?" she asked eagerly.

"I can get the leader of the girls, if you want. You could go right now," I said.

She nodded her head excitedly. "Yeah, that sounds great."

I smiled at her enthusiasm. "Okay, you're about to see something amazing. I don't want you to freak out, though, okay?"

"Okay!"

I capped Riptide and put it in my pocket. "Hey, um, Artemis? Could you come down, please? I, uh, need to talk to you." I felt awkward talking to the sky. I hoped she would answer.

"What do you need, Percy?" I heard a voice say behind me right after I had thought those words. I turned around and saw Artemis standing there as her typical twelve year old self.

"I think I might have a new recruit for you." I guided Rose to stand in front of Artemis. "Her name's Rose. I think she'll be perfect for your group."

Artemis' eyes sparkled with pride at having another person in her Huntress group. "Do you, now?"

"Yes," I said confidently. "She's pretty brave. She didn't run away when that hellhound attacked me. Rose stayed and fought. She's got a pretty good aim, too. Nailed that hellhound in the head."

Artemis' eyebrows rose. "That's pretty impressive. Maybe Percy's right: you belong in our group. Do you want to be in our group?"

Rose nodded her head. "Of course I do!"

Artemis nodded. "Alright, I'm going to send you to where our camp is. Tell them you are a new recruit. Oh, and ask for Thalia. She'll help you and explain what's going to happen, okay?"

Rose smiled. "Okay."

Artemis stepped forward to zap her to the camp, but Rose rushed forward suddenly and hugged me tightly around my stomach. I stumbled back a step, then grinned and hugged her back. "Thank you," Rose said into my shirt.

"You're welcome."

She stepped back and smiled brightly again. "Maybe I'll see you again one day?" she asked hopefully.

"Maybe you will," I agreed. Who knew what could happen these days?

Rose waved goodbye, and after I returned the wave, Artemis sent her to camp.

"I cannot say that I am not surprised, Percy. That was quick thinking on your part," Artemis said.

I put my hands in my pocket and shrugged. "She shouldn't have to go back to a home like that. I thought she'd be much happier with you and your merry band of travelers."

"I suppose you're right. Thank you, Percy." Artemis stared at me hard, like she was trying to read deep into my soul.

"She's going to be a great Hunter," I said. "Feel free to deal with her father." I felt mad just thinking about it, but I knew Artemis would take care of that little problem for me.

"Indeed. I will discipline him properly, do not worry." Artemis frowned. "Don't you have a meeting?"

I froze where I was looking down and shifting my feet. Oh my gods, I thought. "I have a meeting," I mumbled in shock. I jerked my head up to stare at Artemis in horror. "I have a meeting today!"

"I suggest you get going," she said, her eyes glittering with humor.

"Bye!" I near-shouted as I took off in a run in the direction of the tower. It was probably disrespectful to leave a goddess like that, but now wasn't the time to be thinking of correct behavior.

"I'll tell Thalia you said hello," I heard her call after me.

"Thanks!" I yelled back. I shoved my hand into my pocket and yanked my phone out. I had a new message from Tony. It said that the meeting had been changed to Avengers' Tower, 33rd floor. I checked my missed calls and saw I had about thirteen of them. I groaned and clicked it to the main screen to check the time. I felt my stomach drop to somewhere around my ankles when I looked at the time.

It was 11:53. My meeting was at twelve.

There was no way I could make it in time.

**A/N: So what'd you think? Was the fight scene okay? I'm never sure about those. So let me know what you thought by leaving me a lovely review! They make my day. Until next Sunday!** ** (Oh, and you're welcome for the cliffie. *laughs evilly*)**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Alright, so I'll start out by saying that this is the chapter that a lot of you have been waiting for. Something happens. But no spoilers! I shan't say what! And I would like to dedicate this chapter to my friend and partner in crime, Maggie, whose birthday was yesterday. Happy fourteenth, Margaret! This one's to you.**

**Disclaimer: Nope, I still don't own them. I'll get them eventually, though.**

* * *

Chapter Fourteen

"Here."

Okay, so by the time I had gotten back to the tower, it was ten minutes past twelve, the original time for the meeting. The trip up the elevator felt like it had taken forever. When I finally found the right room thanks to Jarvis, my nerves were so frazzled that I instantly said "here" like I was late for class. If this was a different situation, and I wasn't the one it was happening to, I would've been laughing at the poor schmuck who was embarrassing himself in front of people who could definitely mess his life up. But that guy was me and I definitely wasn't laughing.

But back to the present.

The first thing I noticed was that there was only one real person in the room, and that was Fury. I was surrounded by huge screens with a different person on each screen. There were four of them, but something told me that there were more than just those four. There were two women and men. They didn't look anything alike, and the only thing that was similar between them was that they were all looking at me in a _very _disapproving manner. I gulped. So far, not good _whatsoever._

"You're late," Fury said, scowling. His eyes roamed over my appearance, taking in my disheveled clothes and the blood on me. I shifted, self-conscious. Who knows what they thought of me.

I blushed a fierce red and tried to not sound like I was out of breath from turning a thirty minute jog into a fifteen minute all-out sprint. "I had a little problem."

"What kind of problem?" Fury's eyes held a hint of warning in them.

"It's a long story," I said hesitantly, not really wanting to tell him _right now._ "I dealt with it, though."

"You can give him the details later, but we need to start this meeting now," the man all the way to the right said. He had a serious face and wouldn't even look in my direction when he was talking to me. "We're running behind since you showed up late."

I bit back the defensive retort that was about to come back nodded instead. "Okay, so what do you want me to tell you first?"

"What are you?" the lady next to the serious man asked bluntly. Her eyebrows scrunched up together.

I frowned at the somewhat offensive question. "I'm a demigod."

The other lady in the middle gave an almost imperceptible sigh. She had a pretty big nose, I noticed absently. ADHD, I thought to myself. Gotta love it. "Please go into more detail. Are you a mutant?"

"Um, I'm half god, half human," I said, uncomfortably. "I'm not sure if you want to count that as a mutant."

"We'll see," the only man who had spoken yet said. I knew instantly I wasn't going to like him. He had a nasty glint in his eyes that definitely did _not _make me feel all warm and fuzzy.

"I am human in most ways, though," I continued when their stares became too disconcerting. "The only thing that separates me from normal mortals is that I have powers. And that I can see beyond the Mist," I added as an afterthought.

"Please explain your powers as fully as you can," Scrunched-Up Eyebrows said. She leaned forward a little in the chair she was sitting in.

And so I did. I explained what all I could do, what the Mist was, monsters, and pretty much anything else I could think of that I thought they should know. The only interruptions I had were the few questions they bothered asking, but besides that, the Council mostly listened. At the end, Mr. Nasty Eyes spoke up.

"Now we have one more thing to talk about. Compromises." I saw the corners of his mouth go up a fraction, and I knew that whatever he was about to say was _not _going to be good. At all.

Fury finally spoke up. "I think I can just get him to fill out one of the standard forms we have on that after the meeting." He didn't seem very happy at the turn of events, and he even glanced my way for a short second, which was very out of character for him.

"No," the lady with the big nose said. "I believe he is capable of telling us himself."

I was pretty confused. Compromises? I was starting regret not listening to Annabeth too much when she got on one of her "people need to use more complex vocabulary" rants. "What do you mean by compromises?" I asked.

Fury's eye hardened as he glanced over the Council members. "They mean your weaknesses. What are the things that make you weak?"

"Are you asking for my fatal flaw?" I wasn't sure if that was quite what they were looking for, but it was probably close enough to what they wanted for them to be satisfied. Maybe they knew about fatal flaws? I wouldn't put it past them. They probably knew a lot of stuff or knew a lot of people who knew a lot of stuff. Maybe both.

"I think that should do. Do all demigods have fatal flaws?" the guy who had first spoken up said. So far, he was winning in the race of "who didn't make me mad and/or irritated."

"Yeah," I answered. "All heroes have a weakness. Like hubris, for example." I was pretty tempted to add on something about that not being anything like hummus, just to see their faces, but I decided I was already on their not-so-good list so I managed to keep that little sentence in. "My fatal flaw is personal loyalty."

"Explain," Mr. Nasty Face said curtly.

"Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war strategy, once told me 'to save a friend, you would destroy the world.' I guess that pretty much covers what it's mostly about," I told them.

"That seems pretty serious. Has this ever caused severe problems for you or led you to fail in a mission of yours?" the woman next to the serious guy asked. I really needed to learn their names, I thought absently.

"Well, the world hasn't fallen yet, so I suppose not," I said.

"Watch your tone," my least favorite guy snapped. "We took time to have a meeting with you, which you arrived at late, and we will not tolerate being disrespected."

I held my hands up in a placating manner. "I didn't mean disrespect. I meant that me and my friends have saved the world twice already. My fatal flaw didn't get in the way either time." Geez, this guy was touch-y.

The lady to the left actually scoffed a little when I said that. "A teenager and his no doubt delinquent friends saved the world?"

I swallowed. Keep a cool head, Perce. Don't let it get to you, I repeated internally. "Yes, we did," I said tightly.

"What if I were to say that I didn't believe you?" the man in the middle sneered.

"I would say it didn't matter if you believe me or not. I still have my abilities and that's probably all you care about," I said before I could stop myself.

The man narrowed his eyes at me. "And what if I were to tell you that you would not be welcome on the Avengers Initiative any longer?"

"I would say good luck convincing the team because they seemed to like me, last time I checked," I shot back. I really should have just let it go, but I couldn't. I was tired of dealing with this dude.

"The heroes on the Avengers Initiative are not in charge of who gets to be a part of their rag-tag family," the man said coldly. "That is up to the Council."

"Without those heroes on the team, New York would be in ruins, and we would have a new leader under the name of Loki," I snapped, my hands clenched at my sides so I wouldn't do something stupid like take out Riptide. "That ring a bell?"

"I will not be spoken to as if I am one of your uneducated 'friends' who know nothing besides which end of the sword to stab into an enemy," he almost snarled.

The room went dead silent, and I glared at the Council members. "My friends saved all of your ungrateful skins twice. In fact, I have quite a few who are about three quarters of the way to Tony Stark smart. If I hear you talk about them like that while I'm in the room again, bad things will happen. Remember Mount St. Helens exploding? That was me." I took a step forward and tried to rein in my anger a little. "You don't scare me. I've fried bigger fish than you, and I won't be intimidated by a small _mortal_ like you." I put extra emphasis on the mortal part.

I took in a small breath. "I'm not going to ask that you like me. I ask that you respect me. Or else you might find yourself in a place you wish you weren't. You forget who my father is," I grinned, but not in a that-was-a-great-joke kind of way.

"I can make your life hell," the man spat.

"Already been there," I said nonchalantly. "Somehow I doubt you'll even scratch the surface of what's it's like in the deepest part of that place." I turned to Fury. "Are we done here?"

Fury sighed. I would bet five golden drachmas he knew this was going to happen. "Yes, Percy. You can go. I will talk with you later."

I spun around and strode out of the room quickly. I got into the elevator and quietly seethed over what had just happened.

Seriously? That dude was really not going to believe me? I rolled my eyes and tried not to think about it. I could just talk with the team. They'd know what to say with me.

By the time I had gotten off the elevator and stepped onto the Avengers' Floor, I had surprisingly calmed down a little, but not nearly enough. It was more like punch a hole in everything I could instead of punching a hole into that Council man's face. Which I could totally do, but wouldn't. Because there's the little complication of him being a mortal and me being about ten times stronger than him.

I hate complications.

I checked the living room for the Avengers first, and when I saw them just sitting there, I began to finally think over what I had just done.

Okay, so maybe ticking off people on the World Council wasn't the smartest thing to do. I frowned and entered the room. They all simultaneously turned to me.

"Rough day?" Bruce asked mildly.

I sat down hard on the couch. "You could say that."

"Alright, so spill," Tony said. "You look like you were used as a chew toy. Or a ragdoll."

I laughed a little. "That's not actually too far from the truth."

"Are you being deliberately vague?" Tony accused jokingly. "I believe you are."

I smiled. "Alright, alright, I'll tell you. But before I do, go get me some water so I can deal with these scratches." The cut was being annoying, as cuts generally are, and I wanted to heal it right now before I got blood on this very nice looking grey-brown couch.

Once I had healed myself—Bruce and Tony wanted to run some tests on me, and Natasha swatted them both on the head for that—I got down to business. I told them about meeting Rose and that nasty hellhound and being late for the meeting, but I didn't have to tell them about the actual meeting though. They had watched that and already seen it.

"I really shouldn't have snapped at them," I said, "but they were really irritating. And I can't stand bullies either."

"Yeah, they're giant—" Tony proceeded to fill the space with exactly what he thought they were. "Not even Fury likes them."

"I just don't understand," I said frustrated. "They could've at least gotten ticked at me _after _I had done something to make them mad. It's like they were trying to be jerks."

Clint wrinkled his nose. "Listen, kid. The Council doesn't like anyone or anything. They're like that to everyone, so don't beat yourself up about it. They hit me pretty hard one time because of my past."

"I wouldn't have cared if they would've just been rude to me," I mumbled. "But they had to bring my friends into this." I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "All I did by snapping at them was prove them right. I'm a loose cannon, and they just used my fatal flaw against me like it was nothing."

"Well, that's not the only thing," Natasha cut in. "You showed them that you'll fight for yourself. You aren't weak for sure. They might see that as an advantage you have."

I snorted. "Avengers might be minus one today, on the other hand."

"No," Steve said with unexpected vehemence. "I think you'll be staying here for a while. Council's decision or not."

"Indeed," Thor agreed heartily. "Who else would dine on popped tarts with me during breakfast?"

"Who else am I going to experiment on?" Tony asked. He grinned. "Face it, Ariel, you're stuck with us."

I smiled. "I think it's more the other way around. Just wait until I get bored." I smirked. "It's never a safe thing."

"Ever bedazzled Fury's eye patch?" Clint said, eyes glinting with mischief. "Me and Tony did that one time. I thought he was going to kill us, for real."

"I would have, too, if it wasn't for murder being illegal," a voice said from the doorway. Tony and Clint started guiltily and quickly turned around to face Fury. Fury held his hand up. "Don't even think about trying to explain." They both shut their mouths with an audible _clop._

"I came to get the story of why Mr. Jackson showed up to one of the most important meetings in his short life looking like he just got dragged through a forest by a horse," Fury continued. I told him the shortened version to save time, and when I was done, he just sighed.

"Wrong day to have a meeting then," he said tiredly. "You said something about already seeing hell?"

"Do all people in power just automatically hate me whenever they see me?" I asked to no one in particular. "And yeah, I have. No, I'm not going to explain myself." He sighed at that but left it alone.

"Apparently, they don't hate you enough seeing as they're going to reluctantly let you stay on the team until further notice," he said, smiling slightly.

"Wow, really?" I asked in disbelief. "They aren't going to make me disappear permanently for my insolence or something like that?"

"Not today," Fury confirmed. He checked the watch on his wrist. "I have to be going. I have another meeting in twenty minutes. Let's hope this one goes better than the one before it, hm?" He raised his eyebrow, and I blushed. I mumbled something about wishing him luck and he left.

"Is it always so awkward talking to him?" I asked, exasperated. Because come on, if this is what the rest of my stay was going to have in it, then I needed to do something soon.

"No," Bruce said, "usually when you have a near-death experience under his command he comes around pretty quickly."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, that should be soon."

"What do you guys want to do? I'm so _bored," _Tony complained.

"Why do we not go to the gym and spar?" Thor suggested eagerly.

I thought for a moment, weighing the pros and cons. The pros being it would get my mind off things and let me blow off some steam. The cons being that I would be one giant bruise eventually. But the pros outweighed the cons definitely, so it was a go for me. "Sounds great. Meet you guys there in five. I need to change my shirt." I looked down at my ripped pants. "And jeans."

The rest of the day was spent sparring, practicing, and even messing around in the gym with the team. It was the most fun I'd had in a while, I was surprised to think. I was right in saying that Thor would make me a giant bruise, but I actually managed to beat him a few times. It was great practice, and just what I needed.

By the time we went back to our floor, it was five o' clock. So we decided we might as well go ahead and order some pizza for supper. The only things left on the table after we were done were fifteen empty pizza boxes and a stray cup. We all agreed to taking an early bath and then watching a movie after. Tony said it was "team bonding." Natasha told him to shut up and go take a shower because he stunk.

We met back in the living room at about seven. We argued on the movie choice for a while before deciding to just watch a couple _Star Wars_ movies.

Three hours later and we were in the middle of the second one. I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open, I'll admit. I yawned for the twentieth time in five minutes and finally decided to just give up and let myself fall asleep. The team would wake me up when the movie was over. Besides, I wasn't the only one who was thinking about hitting the hay. Steve was dozing peacefully in the corner of the couch, and Bruce was snoring softly in the middle with his head tipped back. The others looked like they would be going down for the count soon, too. So I let my eyes fall shut and stay shut. I was just so _tired. _

That might be one of the reasons I couldn't wake up from my Level 10 on Percy's Nightmare Scale nightmare, or at least make it a bullet graze and not a direct bullet wound.

It must have been really, really bad because my brain had completely blocked out what had happened during it. I couldn't remember a thing. I just felt someone shaking me and multiple people trying to wake me up. My eyes shot open and I sat bolt upright with a gasp.

I had no way to prepare myself for the huge flashback headed my way.

I felt my limbs freeze up and the team's voices get farther and farther away as the darkness of the flashback consumed me.

_You'll never beat me, a voice whispered. You're too weak. You and your little friends are too weak combined. The world as you know it will fall, and soon, the people will know that it was all because of _you.

_Suddenly, a giant pit was before me. I scrambled away from it as fast as I could because there was something _wrong w_ith that pit. It was Tartarus, I thought, horrified. I heard voices screaming everywhere at me, begging me, asking me why I didn't save them. Why did I fail them? _

_ I saw my friends' lifeless eyes, and I watched Annabeth bleed out from a stab wound._

_ This is all your fault, Percy, the voice murmured. All your fault._

_ No, I muttered. I felt a blossoming pain in my temples, and I fell to my knees. The pain spread to my entire body, and I had to bite down on my knuckles to keep from screaming. _

_ I saw flashes of Tartarus, and I saw monsters. I watched all of the people I loved die in a continuous loop, all in terribly creative ways, and I kept hearing voices calling out to me. After a while, they got stronger and stronger until suddenly, my mind cleared enough for me to realize what it was that was calling to me._

_ It was my friends. In the real world. Who were definitely _still alive.

_So I took the sounds and I pulled on them as hard as I could, and—_

I felt hands on me, supporting me. The darkness was trying to get me to come back to it, but I forced myself away. These are the people that care, I reminded myself. They'll help me.

I blinked and my vision cleared, and I saw six pairs of frantic eyes looking at me. It was weird, I thought. It was almost like I was having an out-of-body experience I was so disconnected to myself.

It was terrible. It was lonely, and I couldn't seem to get my body to unfreeze itself, let alone to get my mouth to work to try and convince them that I was okay.

So instead I just let my body pitch forward and thunk my head against Steve's chest, letting out a gust of air shakily. I didn't realize I was crying soundlessly until I felt Natasha wipe away a few stray tears rolling down my cheeks with her thumb. I felt my body trembling like a leaf and realized that I didn't care. I closed my eyes and felt hands on my knee, on my shoulder, on my back rubbing soothingly.

And suddenly, I found myself tired. I was just so tired of being strong and of holding everything in. I was tired of being tired. I felt the exhaustion seep its way through my entire body, and I let myself go completely boneless against Steve. I sniffed, not even bothering to wipe the tears away because I was just done. I was done with all this leader crap. For the first time in my life, _I _was the soldier. Someone was going to take care of _me _instead of the other way around. Someone was going to be strong for _me. _And the only thing I had to do was accept it.

And I think that _that _was the best thing I had ever felt in my life. For the first time in a long time, I saw the grey clouds that were my life part just a little to let a sliver of sun shine through.

I heard Tony murmur, "It's gonna be okay, buddy. Things are gonna get better." And I felt my spirits lift a little at that because I knew that this time, things probably _were _going to be okay.

**A/N: Before you ask, yes I did have that little moment and episode thought of before I even thought of writing this story. So, the important question is. . .was that okay? It wasn't too OOC I hope, right? I don't know. So, let me know what you thought! All reviews and constructive criticism are always welcome and greatly appreciated! Once again, Happy Birthday to my favorite best friend Margaret! I'll see you guys next week.**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: I am so so sorry for this being late! I've been really busy lately, and I got all of my electronics (including my beloved laptop) taken away. And me and my best friend recently had a fight, and I didn't want to write for a few days after that. (We're good now.) Add that to an absent Muse and you've got the perfect combination for a late chapter. Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks to you guys who asked me where I was. It definitely encouraged me and kept me from giving up!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own my dear Perseus or the Avengers.**

* * *

Chapter 15

I woke up slowly.

I was lying with my head pillowed on Steve's lap, and my legs were lying on top of Clint's legs. Natasha sat next to Clint, and she had rested her hand on top of my feet. Bruce's hand was buried into my hair, and Thor was sitting on the floor with his head against my knees. And finally, Tony was sitting on the floor right in front of my face, my arm held in a death grip he was cuddling it so hard. I smiled a little at that. If the world's evilest villains could see Earth's Mightiest heroes now, sleeping like little kids. They'd probably be quaking in their boots.

And I noticed something. They all had some part of their body in contact with mine. Like they were trying to reassure me that they were still there. That they were still _going _to be there.

I'm not sure, but I think those dark clouds might have parted a little more.

I decided to take stock of myself. Pounding headache, sore muscles, dried tears on my face. I sighed internally. I was a wreck. I winced as I tried to turn my head a fraction. A very _sore _wreck.

I stretched my legs from the crunched position I was in and tried to take my arm back from Tony. He actually started squeezing harder, so I just gave up, rolling my eyes in exasperation.

I felt Clint start to stir next to me and flexed my toes. What time was it anyway? I saw Clint blink his eyes open a few times confusedly before freezing for a second. He whipped his head over in my direction. He relaxed a little when he saw me awake, but he quirked his eyebrow up in a silent question. _Okay? _I just shrugged because really, who knew? Clint nodded slightly and leaned his head against the back of the couch.

I saw him rub his eyes a few times, then reach over and gently nudge Natasha. She reacted almost the same as Clint, except she reached for her knife. That probably should have scared me, but in truth, I was kind of used to it. She glanced down at me and observed me. She rolled her eyes when she saw Tony holding onto my arm and reached over and flicked him in the middle of his forehead.

Tony grunted and jerked awake with a start. He looked around and finally noticed how tight he was holding my arm. He dropped it hurriedly, blushing slightly. He busied himself with trying to wake Thor up, which I soon realized was a little more dangerous than I originally thought since Tony had to duck to avoid Thor's swinging fist.

"What ails thee, Man of Iron?" Thor mumbled out, a touch grumpily.

"I think you talk more like Shakespeare in the morning than in any other time," Tony commented, his voice still rough from sleep.

"You good?" Bruce asked me. I tilted my head up so I could see him. I saw Steve open his eyes in my peripheral vision. Bruce's eyebrows scrunched up in the middle. He was obviously worried. I mean, I supposed I would be, too, if one of my friends had a complete breakdown in the middle of the night for no apparent reason.

I shuddered internally at the thought. I still wasn't sure what brought that on. Usually I could shake myself out of it. I just. . .couldn't this time.

I realized that Bruce was still patiently waiting for an answer. "Oh, um," I said intelligently. "No, probably not."

"What can we do to help?" Steve said, looking concerned.

"Honestly, I have no clue." I shrugged, not even attempting to get up from where I had myself draped over Steve, Natasha, and Clint. "I've never had a breakdown before, in case you haven't noticed."

"So that's what we're calling it?" Tony asked from where he was on the floor.

"Any better ideas?" I said tiredly.

"What exactly happened last night, Percy?" Clint's eyes were still examining me like he couldn't figure out what was wrong.

"You're probably getting tired of hearing this, but I don't know."

"You don't know anything? Nothing that could have brought it on or anything?" Natasha questioned.

I shook my head and frowned. I'd have to think about that. What could have brought it on? The stress of the meeting, or maybe fighting a hellhound. I sighed internally.

I swear the gods could never give me a break.

"Have any of your nightmares ever been that bad?" Tony asked.

"No, I think that was definitely the worst. On both the nightmares _and _flashbacks." And that was the truth. It really was the worst nightmare and flashback I've ever had. Even if the flashback wasn't real. I gave a small laugh that held no humor. "And I thought the times right after the war were bad."

The team frowned at that. Bruce looked down and belatedly realized that he still had his hand buried in my uncontrollable hair and removed it sheepishly. "Sorry," he mumbled.

I sat up and stretched. "Don't freak out, but I need to leave."

They all sat up straight and looked mildly alarmed. "Why?" Thor asked.

I wasn't really sure why I felt the need to do this, but I knew I had to. "I need to go the beach. We can talk some more after."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Thirty minutes later, I found myself sitting on the beach, calmly looking out across the distance. "Dad?" I asked. I hoped he wasn't busy.

"One step ahead of you." I turned my head to look at him and saw him sitting there in his usual style of dress: Bermuda shorts and a Hawaiian print shirt. He had the same salt-and-pepper hair, same tanned skin, and same powerful and kind ocean-green eyes. I wasn't sure if I had been expecting a completely different person since The Incident this morning, but it was still the same Dad. The thought comforted me a lot more than I expected.

"When aren't you?" I muttered, half-joking and half-serious.

"So you wanted to talk," Dad said.

"Well, I actually wanted to put out a big 'what the Hades,' but yeah, that's close enough."

I turned back to look out over the water and heard Poseidon sigh. "You want the good or bad news first?"

"There's good news?" I asked.

My dad rolled his eyes and continued on. "The bad news," Poseidon said, "is that you think you have a weak spot. You think since your 'breakdown' they're going to start treating you differently."

"They always do," I pointed out.

"They being who?" Dad asked. "Are you talking about the new kids at camp?" I didn't say anything. "Of course they're going to treat you different. They don't even know you."

"Some of the other campers did, too," I said. "People who had known me. They tried not to show it, but I could still tell." I sifted through the sand with my hand, letting it slowly slip between my fingers.

"Well, I can honestly tell you that your new team doesn't think that." Poseidon raised an eyebrow. "Did you really believe that they were going to just start treating you different right off the bat?" I shrugged, not really knowing what else to do. "You forget they have gone through troubles that affected them much like yours do to you." I was quiet for a minute.

"So what's the good news?" I finally said when the silence got too heavy.

"Now you can start over," he said, his eyes twinkling like they do when he knows something I don't. "A clean slate."

"What do you mean? You aren't making any sense." _As usual,_ I thought to myself.

"All I'm going to say is that the time between spring and summer is the best for healing." Dad tapped the end of his nose and said, "I don't want to spoil anything. Mum's the word."

I groaned. "Come on, you have got to be kidding me. You seriously aren't going to tell me anything?"

"Nothing," he promised. I sighed, knowing I wasn't going to get anything out of him. We continued to sit on the sand, watching the water and just relaxing. It was nice, and I felt refreshed and energized after. I'm sure Dad had something to do with that.

"I should probably be getting back to the team," I said after a while, standing up and dusting off my shorts.

My dad stood up with me. "And I have duties to attend to, unfortunately."

"I guess I'll see you later, then," I said, about to turn and walk away.

"You're doing better?" Dad suddenly said. He looked at me with oddly bright eyes.

I smiled in his direction, starting to get what he meant by his words. "I think I'll be alright. Besides, haven't you heard? The time between spring and summer is apparently a great time for healing."

Dad just grinned back and clapped a hand on my shoulder. Then he faded away into sea mist.

I smiled again and began to walk back to the tower. It had taken about twenty minutes to get here, so I had some time to think about what Dad had said and everything that had been happening lately.

It really was amazing, I kept thinking, how close I had gotten to the team. It hadn't even been a week yet, and already I had let myself go in front of them. It was weird to say the least.

But maybe my dad had a point. Maybe I should tell them more about me and see what happened because of it. Maybe I could understand why I had been sent here better. Because what the gods had said about "finding myself" still didn't really make sense. How do you "find yourself" when you don't even know where to start looking?

Maybe that's where the team came in. Maybe they knew how to do all this stuff. Had they ever been lost before? I wondered. I bet they had. The gods probably thought I needed someone's help who had had experience with all this stuff.

Or maybe they sent me there because the team could help my flashbacks and nightmares go away.

But that still didn't explain why I had the biggest nightmare/flashback in my entire existence. Was it one of those things where it had to get worse and then better or something?

And, anyway, maybe in order for my Incidents to go away I had to find myself first. Didn't the gods kind of imply that when you've lost who you are and what your purpose is, bad stuff happens? Like, nightmare and flashback bad? Probably. I really needed to pay attention more.

And if I did tell the team about what really happens in Tartarus—I still wouldn't tell them the whole thing because some things shouldn't, under any circumstances, be shared—would I really feel better? I hadn't really ever tried this whole sharing-is-caring thing, but it couldn't hurt to try. It's not like I had anything to lose. They already knew I was seriously messed up and very much _not whole. _

So I'd tell them, I told myself decisively. I'd tell them more and see if it felt better. It'd be like an experiment. I ran a hand through my hair anxiously. But what if it didn't help? What if they _couldn't _help? I was running out of options here, and if I was being truthful, I was afraid I was going to go off the deep end one day. And maybe, no one would be able to get me back.

But no, I couldn't think like that, I said. I couldn't think negatively. For this to work, I'd have to think on the bright side of things. I couldn't think about how those dark clouds that were my life could get darker. I had to concentrate on trying to get those dark clouds to let the sun peek through more, right? And I had a feeling that it would start with the team.

There was no way I could do this alone. And even if there was a way to do it by myself, I wouldn't want to. Actually, to my surprise, I wanted the team's help. But first things first: I needed to get to the tower without getting lost. Had I taken a right or a left here?

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Hey, Jarvis, where's the team?" I asked when I got back to the tower. Luckily, I hadn't gotten lost, so I made it back in a smooth twenty-two minutes.

"I believe they are currently in the gym, sir," Jarvis answered.

"Okay. What time is it?" For all I knew it could be five in the evening. Except I might've noticed the traffic if that was the case.

"One o'clock, sir."

I thanked Jarvis and walked into the elevator. I stepped out when I got to the gym floor, smiling when I heard the sounds of Clint and Tony arguing over which arrowhead was more useful—Tony was currently banking on the fart arrows and Clint was going for the knockout gas. I rolled my eyes. Typical.

"Mind if I join you guys?" I interrupted when I was close enough.

"Actually," Bruce began, "it's funny. You got here just in time." Bruce glanced at Thor. "Thor's in the mood for some light sparring, and he wanted to know if you weren't too sore from yesterday."

I smirked. "Never too sore for a good spar. When do we start?"

The team stepped back quite a few paces and began arguing on who would win. I uncapped Riptide, and Thor twirled Mjölnir. I smiled. Some things never change. Huge breakdown or not.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

We actually ended up sparring for about an hour and a half, and by the end we were all pretty tuckered out. We all decided we would make some sandwiches and talk in the living room.

As much as this was kind of embarrassing—I wasn't exactly used to losing my cool in front of some people I hadn't even known for a week yet—it really needed to happen. I needed to explain everything to them, and tell them about what really happens in Tartarus. What Tartarus does to a person.

So we sat down and ate our afternoon lunch quietly, saving our conversation for after. Once I had taken the last bite of my sandwich and couldn't stall for time any longer, I finally spoke up. "So, I went and talked to my dad."

"Yeah?" Tony said. "What did he say?"

"Well, in god-speak, I think he was nicely telling me that I'm being an idiot for thinking I'm weak right now," I said contemplatively. "And something about the time between spring and summer being good for healing."

"Okay, that doesn't sound bad or anything," Clint said. "Is that it?"

"Yeah, mostly. But I wanted to tell you guys some other stuff." I licked my lips nervously. "Something that will help you understand." Here goes nothing, I thought.

"I think the gods sent me here so that you could help me get over my nightmares and flashbacks," I said. I felt my heart hammering in my chest. That wasn't too bad, I encouraged myself mentally. Keep going.

"Well, if that's the case we're doing a pretty poor job of it," Bruce said drily.

"I guess. But think about it," I said. "Think about it like a fever or something. Sometimes the fever gets worse and worse before it finally breaks, doesn't it?" I hoped that made sense. Annabeth has told me that I'm terrible at analogies.

"Yeah," Natasha said slowly.

"So maybe that's what this is," I told them. "Maybe I had to get worse before I could get better. I mean, believe it or not, I actually do feel better."

"You feel better after having a breakdown and only sleeping for four hours?" Steve asked, eyebrows raised.

"Not the craziest thing I've ever said. But I really think that's what this is," I persisted. "I have a little idea of how you guys help, but I don't think I'll tell you yet."

"Why is that?" Thor asked, his eyebrows crinkled in confusion.

"Don't want to spoil it for you," I grinned. I let the grin slide off my face slowly. "But I can tell you some other stuff, if you'll listen."

"Sure," Steve said.

"It's kind of long," I admitted, because come on, you can't just describe Tartarus as a big, scary dark hole. It's more than that.

"We don't have anything planned today," Tony said easily.

"If you insist," I said.

And so I told them some more about me. Some stuff they already knew, some stuff they didn't. I let them know more about Tartarus, and what it really does to you. How it plants a seed in you that makes you feel like you're missing something. How it makes you feel dark. I told them about my time when I finally got out the pit, and how me and Annabeth just weren't the same anymore. How I even though I tried so hard to protect her from the darker things in the pit, she still came out like me: eyes a little darker, skin a little paler, and scars people can't see, but that are still there.

And after all that, I told them about happier things. Things they didn't really need to know, but they listened to anyway. Like my mom and me's tradition of blue foods, what life at camp usually is like, and things like that.

It felt good. I finally understood why people decided to talk to me after the war sometimes. Because talking about it actually did help. It felt nice to dump your problems on someone else and let them help you deal with it for once.

The team really was helping. They were being the leaders and taking care of me while I was the soldier that just followed orders. It was a refreshing change, believe it or not.

And you know, my dad was right, I thought, when we separated after our talk to go to our rooms for some alone time until supper. My dad was right in saying that you weren't weaker by telling someone your problems. It actually made you stronger. Because now, I could begin to heal. Maybe I could begin to look in the mirror and not see things that aren't there. But mostly, maybe I could start to be _me _again. Maybe I could find myself.

And my dad was right about another thing. The time between spring and summer _was _the best time for healing. Plus, I heard that the sun _definitely _shines a little warmer this time of year, too.

**A/N: That's it! I updated as fast as I could, and you can probably tell. I don't know, it just didn't feel like my best work, but whatever. I tried. So tell me what you thought and what I could improve upon! It really helps me and encourages me. See ya next Sunday, dearies!**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: So, here it is. Chapter numero Sixteen. And I couldn't find where Avengers' Tower was located in New York, so just pretend that it's on Staten Island. It goes with the story. I'm not sure if it's up to my standards of good, but then again when is my writing ever up to my standards of good? Whatever. So, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own my dear Perseus Jackson or the Avengers.**

* * *

Chapter Sixteen

I blushed as I felt my stomach growl loudly for what seemed like the billionth time. It was only five o'clock, and we were all starving.

"I say we should get pizza," Tony declared.

"We just had that a few days ago," Natasha argued.

"All the more reason to have it again," Tony countered.

Steve frowned. "That doesn't even make any sense."

"Are you on my side or not?" Tony said exasperatedly. "Please tell me you're on my side, Percy," Tony said, turning his pleading eyes on me.

"I don't care as long as we get food," I told him. Personally, I thought I was smart for not getting into all this. I'd wake up with a few limbs missing, or maybe a robot leg or something. You know, depending on the person I made mad.

"Why don't we all just make ourselves a sandwich and go eat outside or up on the roof?" Bruce suggested, leaning against the counter.

Clint shrugged. "Yeah, sounds good to me."

"That also seems like a fair idea to me." Thor grinned happily.

"Sandwiches it is, then," Steve said decisively, preventing World War III from happening between Tony and Natasha.

Tony huffed. "Fine." Natasha rolled her eyes and got out the peanut butter and jelly.

Once we had all made ourselves a sandwich—or sandwiches—we walked up to the roof. It was a clear day, and the sun was still shining brightly. The air was fresh, and there was a slight breeze. I sighed. It was nearly perfect—not too hot, not too cold. I took a bite out of my sandwich and munched on it hungrily.

"So, Perce," Tony said. "Are we still gonna IM your friends or whatever this weekend?"

I paused in my chewing for a moment. I had completely forgotten about our casual IM-ing with Annabeth and the others. "Yeah, I guess we are. I'll have to check what time tomorrow and all that stuff." I took another bite out of my sandwich.

"I am eager to meet your young friend Annabeth," Thor said excitedly. "Her name is well known in Asgard, although her fame does not come near yours."

I smiled at the thought of Annabeth. "Yeah, she sure is something."

"If that's not a lovesick face, then I don't know what is," Tony said teasingly.

I felt my face grow hot as Clint said, "It's the same look you get with Pepper when we aren't looking." Clint grinned and pointed his finger at Tony. "Don't try and convince us otherwise either. You sly dog, you." Clint winked and waggled his eyebrows until Natasha whapped him on the shoulder.

"Shut up," Natasha said. "Pepper's good for Tony."

"We know," Clint said defensively, rubbing his arm. "That's why we can make fun of Tony for it."

"So tell us about Annabeth," Bruce cut in before I could ask who Pepper was. "What's she like?"

"Well, she's brilliant, first of all. Daughter of Athena." I hesitated for a moment, not really knowing the shortest way to describe her._ How do you sum up one of the most important people in one sentence? _I wondered. "And she's crazy into architecture. She can go on for hours and hours. And she loves any kind of strategy games she can get her hands on." I smiled fondly at the thought of me and her playing Battleship and her getting mad at me, forgetting about my little audience in front of me.

"And she loves reading even though she's dyslexic. Her eyes always light up whenever she talks about something she likes. And she hates when I pull her in the water when she's not ready," I laughed. "And I always steal her ponytails and make her take her hair down because she needs to relax." I sighed. "She has curly blonde hair and really tanned skin. And her eyes are grey; you can always tell when she's thinking about something." I stared off into the distance for a while, zoning out.

Steve cleared his throat. "She sounds great." His eyes twinkled.

I started and blushed heavily. "Oh my gods, sorry." I rubbed the back of my head. "I can get carried away sometimes. Just tell me to shut up or something."

Tony chuckled. "Nah, it's fine. Young love and all that." He grinned mischievously. "You know, you actually sounded like you could've kept going on about her."

"You have no idea," I said.

Natasha rolled her eyes at Tony. "So how'd you two get together?" she asked me.

I was just opening my mouth to tell her the story when I felt all of the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I sprang up to my feet and was instantly on high-alert. Something wasn't right here. The others scrambled up behind me.

"What?" Bruce said anxiously. "What, Percy?"

"You didn't feel that?" I said, not looking away from scanning the parts of the city I could see.

"Feel what?" Clint asked.

"Something's wrong," I said, not answering his question. "There's someone or something here that shouldn't be here."

"Be where? Like what?" Steve said, tensing up and beginning to scan the area with me.

"Something we probably don't want to meet." I walked over to the edge of the building and glanced out to my right. I could just see the water from the top of the tower, and if I concentrated, I could feel it thrumming. But something was off. It felt almost like there was a disturbance in the water.

I concentrated all of my power on just the ocean and tried to figure out what it was. Whatever it was, it must have been pretty big.

"Percy?" I heard Tony ask. I held up a finger without turning around. What was this thing? Whatever it was, I'd never seen or felt anything like it. I finally looked back at the team.

"There's something in the water," I said. "I'm not sure what it is, but it definitely shouldn't be there. Like, at _all."_

"So what do we do?" Steve asked.

"We must defeat it," Thor said. "We cannot let it go free when it might hurt someone."

"For sure," I agreed. "Hang on." I turned in about the direction I thought camp might be in and let out my best taxi whistle. I saw the team wince.

"Why did you do that?" Bruce asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You'll see in a sec," I told him. We waited a total of three and a half minutes before I finally saw a dark spot appear in the distance. I watched as it circled closer and closer before it finally landed.

"Three and a half minutes," I said. "You're getting slow." I smiled and patted his mane.

_You know you missed me, boss,_ Blackjack whinnied.

"Yeah, yeah," I said, rolling my eyes. I remembered my teammates and went to introduce them to my winged friend. "Guys," I said to get their attention from where they were staring in various stages of disbelief at Blackjack. They glanced at me after a second's hesitation. "Meet my favorite pegasus, Blackjack."

_Aw, boss, you warm my heart. _

"Don't call me boss," I said out of habit. "Anyway, Blackjack, this is Tony, Steve, Bruce, Clint, Natasha, and Thor." I pointed to each of them in turn. "Say hi."

_Hi, _Blackjack said, almost shyly.

"He's awesome," Tony said. "Nice to meet you Blackjack." Tony thought for a second, and said, "He can understand me, right? Because that would be really awkward."

_Of course I can understand him. Does he think I'm stupid or something? _Blackjack huffed and tossed his mane. I tried unsuccessfully to hide my smirk and instead patted Blackjack's mane again. "Yeah, he understands everything."

"Okay good," Tony said, relieved. "How does he—" Tony was cut off by the distant sound of a siren.

I froze, and my body instantly went into overdrive. I zeroed in on the ocean and instantly jumped onto Blackjack without preamble. "I have to go, meet me at the ocean as soon as you can," I said hurriedly. "I have to go hold it off now. You might want to get into your gear." I spurred Blackjack and flew off before they could say anything. Thankfully, Blackjack didn't even protest. He knew me better than that after two wars of fighting with each other.

_What's up, boss? _he asked. _What's wrong?_

"There's a monster in the ocean," I said grimly. "And it's attacking."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

When we finally arrived on scene, it was a mess. The few docks that were there were already torn up, and there were a few boats floating aimlessly in the water. There were a few pedestrians out and watching the water with what looked like extreme apprehension, and a few police cars were already lined up there. I wasn't sure what made them stop and watch everything. If I was a regular person that was very liable to get smushed by a giant sea monster, I would run. Of course, they didn't know it was a giant sea monster, to be fair.

"Fly a little closer to the water," I told Blackjack. There was always a chance the people would see us, but I was hoping the Mist would do its thing and let me have at least a little bit of luck. Blackjack dipped his wings toward the water, and pretty soon we were almost skimming the waves. I felt around for the monster and finally noticed a large presence near a dock about a hundred yards from where we were. I watched as it destroyed another thankfully vacant dock.

I nudged Blackjack in that direction, and he reluctantly flew to it. _Boss, I don't think it's a good idea to be going over there, _he cautioned.

"I know, buddy. But we gotta check it out. I don't like it as much as you do." I frowned. "It's just that this whole thing seems off, for some reason."

Blackjack snorted. _It's a giant sea monster that wants to make me into a horse-ke-bob. Of course it's weird. _

I sighed. "I'm being serious."

_Okay, fine. I do know what you mean, though._

"I just can't out my finger on it."

_I can't put my hoof on it, either._

"Okay, you can just hover," I told him when we got to the place I last felt the monster. I searched the water with my eyes, trying to see past the murkiness. "Can you see anything?" I asked.

_Nope. Maybe it's not meant to be. We should probably go. _Blackjack glanced down nervously at the water. _Boss, I can feel it. And it ain't friendly. _

"No, really?" I asked sarcastically. I looked harder and finally spotted a shady spot that shouldn't have been there. "I think I see something."

The shape started getting bigger, and I had a split second to shout "UP!" at Blackjack before the monster broke the surface.

It was a huge thing. It looked almost like a serpent, except it was about thirty feet long. It had huge spikes coming out of its back, and its scales were a dark maroon or purple color. When it turned its head toward me, I felt my body freeze up. Its eyes glared hatefully at me as it bared its multiple rows of sharp teeth.

"Oh my gods," I muttered in shock. "You've got to be kidding me."

I heard Blackjack do this weird squeaking noise I'd never heard him do before. _Boss, we need to leave _right now.

"We can't," I said. "We have to beat this thing."

_Are you sure that's possible? _

"Yeah," I said, not sounding confident at all. "Yeah, we can do this. Besides," I said, trying to look on the bright side of things, "we'll have back up. The team's coming."

I watched the serpent-thing, trying to find a chink in the armor of scales. I saw it tense its muscles up, and I frowned. "Blackjack," I warned, my voice a whisper. "I think it's going to—"

The creature suddenly lunged before I could finish, and Blackjack pulled up quickly with a loud whiny. I felt the air _woosh _underneath me as the serpent barely missed me. My heart thudded loudly in my chest. I cursed. "That thing's fast."

_I think I left my stomach back there, _Blackjack moaned.

"That makes two of us," I said. I looked down at where the giant sea serpent was still glaring at me. What else could it do? Spit acid? Breathe fire? With my luck, that would probably be the case. Speaking of which— "Where's the team, anyway?" I asked to no one in particular.

_Are you sure they're coming? _Blackjack asked.

"Yeah. Pretty sure," I said. "But maybe they got hung up or something."

_Maybe. Any ideas on how to make this over-sized snake into pixie dust?_

I thought for a second. "The best thing I can think of right now is to try and hold it back via water powers and then make a dive at it. Maybe I'll get a lucky shot in."

Blackjack lost the rhythm of the beat of his wings for a second, and we dropped a few feet. He quickly regained himself and went back to hovering. _That is a _terrible _idea boss. Does it look like I wanna die today?_

"It's the best thing we got. Come on, you know I've gotten better with my powers," I tried to say convincingly. "We have to try. This thing's gonna hurt someone."

_Oh, sure, guilt-trip the horse. _Blackjack sighed unhappily and started to make a slow descent down to the water. _You better get ready. And you _so _owe me sugar cubes and apples after this. _

"I'll give you all the sugar cubes and apples you can stand if we get through this," I promised. "Now be quiet. I need to concentrate."

_Touchy, touchy._

I ignored Blackjack and concentrated on the churning water below me. I closed my eyes tried to focus on making the water molecules around the snake condense together. I felt them slowly coming together. I opened my eyes, and sure enough, the water around the snake had frozen over, keeping it trapped and still.

The perfect target.

"Okay, Blackjack. You're going to need to be as fast as you possibly can," I coached. "Just get me in close to the top of its head, and I can just throw Riptide at it like a javelin."

_So we're going Kamikaze? _

"Exactly."

Blackjack told me to hold on and dove down towards the snake, tucking his wings in. I saw us getting closer and closer and closer until finally, I was within throwing range. I made sure the water was keeping the thing held down enough and hurled my sword right at its eye with everything I had.

Blackjack immediately swooped away with a powerful flap of his wings, and I heard a loud screech behind us that told me I had hit it right where I wanted. I grinned. Awesome.

And that was about as far as I got with the celebrating seeing as I only had Blackjack's warning of _BOSS! _and the sound of my ice crackingbefore I was knocked off his back by a giant snake tail. I had completely forgotten about the thing's tail.

I turned my body in mid air while free-falling, mentally telling Blackjack to keep away. He'd definitely get hurt over here, and on the off chance I actually _didn't _get eaten, I would need him as back-up.

I closed my eyes right before I hit the water, not really wanting to see what was going to happen in a second. I felt the water cushion my fall like it always did and opened my eyes. I looked around quickly for the huge snake, my eyes darting around and never stopping. There was no sign of him.

I saw a fish swim quickly past me and heard its terrified thoughts and instantly went rigid in the water. There was only one reason a fish would swim past me without even asking for help or protection from something that was scaring it.

The fish must have known that even _I _wouldn't be able to protect it.

I slowly turned around in the water. I saw two huge snake eyes glaring back at me, eyes gleaming in the water. There was a thin stream of blood trailing behind him from his right eye. His eye had a huge hole in it, and he didn't look happy about that. At all. We just stared at each other for another moment, seeing who would attack first. I think the snake had finally had enough because it let out a loud screech and quick-as-lightning came at me.

I just managed to dance away. I let the water currents build up behind me and shot myself forward and to the surface.

Apparently the snake had other ideas though. It lunged for my foot, and I jerked it up to my body. I wasn't quick enough though. I felt a sharp pain in my calf and foot. I looked down and saw that he had managed to graze me with his sharp teeth, and I had a huge gash in my leg that was bleeding like there was no tomorrow. The water started to heal me, but seeing as Mr. Toothy wanted to go for round two with those razor-sharp teeth of his, I gathered up all the pressure I could behind me and rocketed myself out of the water.

I shouted for Blackjack just as I saw the serpent jump out of the water with me. I saw a black shape dive down to catch me. The snake kept coming out of the water, its body seeming as though it never ended. I saw everything happening in slow motion from there.

I saw Blackjack flapping his midnight-black wings to rescue me. But I knew for a fact he wasn't going to get there in time. I knew this over-grown water snake was going to get there first. So I did what any normal person would do.

I twisted my body in mid-air and landed on the snake's back between the spikes.

Yeah, okay, so maybe that wasn't such a good idea. And maybe a normal person wouldn't do that, but whatever. I was running out of options. Plus, on the bright side, I could see the soft underside of its neck, perfect for jabbing a sword into.

But of course, there was a down side to riding a giant snake. For starters, bucking broncos don't even touch what this snake did to try and throw me off. It dove down deep into the water, it tried to twist me off, and it tried to swerve its head around to bite me. Luckily, he failed on all of these. It just couldn't do anything because I was sitting too close to its neck and face.

Another thing that's bad is that you begin to wonder if your body is ever going to get rid of all these bruises you're definitely getting. Probably not.

And last, you don't know what's going on around you. For instance, if your teammates are even there, where your pegasus is, or how you're going to get off this very much _not fun _roller coaster ride. There's always the option of stabbing the thing in the neck, but you can't do that if you're concentrating on trying not to get thrown off. Like me.

After what seemed like ages, the snake finally came out of the water again, which turned out to be a big mistake. It suddenly was blind in both eyes as arrows, repulsor beams, and lightning all came down on its face in one go.

It jerked forward again, almost unseating me for the billionth time. It shrieked loudly and fell back towards the water. I just got barely got to glance at my team, all airborne, before I was back in the water again. I willed the currents to bring us back to the surface again, and I saw a flash of gold and red fly by before the snake hissed in pain and snapped at the nearest Avenger, which just happened to be Thor.

Thor swung Mjölnir in an arch, and it crashed down on the snake's snout. I willed the water around it to freeze again. Unfortunately, this wasn't enough to hold it down, and it continued to buck and jolt its body around. I almost bit down on my tongue with the force of it.

I determinedly built up the hold of ice I had on it, and took a chance by digging into my pocket for Riptide and holding on one handed. I saw a bullet land in the snake's eye again and watched as a red, white, and blue shield clanged against the snake's nose. It ricocheted back to Steve.

I uncapped Riptide quickly, and made sure the ice was firm. I gripped my sword tightly, and leapt off the snake towards its throat, bringing my sword down with all my might. I felt the soft skin give way and heard the snake give a last dying screech before it turned into monster dust.

I landed on a patch of ice—which _did _hurt, by the way, but I just didn't have the energy to turn it back into water right now—and watched as Blackjack landed on the ice and galloped quickly over to me.

_Boss, are you okay? _he asked frantically. _You were almost snake chow!_

"I'm fine," I said waving away his concerns and getting up slowly. "Just a few bumps and scratches. Nothing life-threatening."

Blackjack whinnied in relief. _Whew. That's good. And I changed my mind about the sugar cubes and apples, boss. I think you could use them more than I could._

"How about I take the apples, and you get a few sugar cubes?" I compromised. "You did good, too."

_Psshh. _Blackjack said. _That was nothing. But I will take those sugar cubes, if you insist._

I smiled and got up on his back. "Take us up to the Avengers, buddy."

We flew up easily to where the Avengers were hovering with their suit, hammer, or hover-technology. Clint, Natasha, and Steve were on what looked like a flying pad with steering and handles sticking out the front. Tony was in his suit, and Thor was just holding himself aloft with his hammer, spinning it in a circular motion quickly.

"You okay, Perce?" Steve shouted before I could even get within speaking distance.

"I'm good," I answered once I had gotten up there. I scanned over all of them and noticed someone missing that I hadn't before. "Where's Bruce?" I asked.

"Holding down the fort at Avengers' Tower," Tony said. "Sorry we were late. We were in the middle of being told off by Fury and the Council. But we basically told them to shove it and flew off before they could call their security to stop us."

"Seriously? What for?" Tony and the others hadn't even done anything, really. Yet.

"We'll explain at the tower," Natasha said. "We need to go now though. People are starting to stare." I glanced down near the ruined docks, and sure enough, I saw tiny people pointing at us. They were probably taking pictures of the Avengers.

"Yeah, come on. Let's go," Clint said, turning his hover-pad towards the tower and flying off.

We all followed after him. The sun was just beginning to set, but for some reason, the beautiful day wasn't so beautiful any more. That might have something to do with the giant snake, though. But something told me it wasn't just that.

It was the weird feeling I still had. That everything was off. My instincts were trying to tell me something, but I just couldn't put my finger on what. Whatever it was, it wasn't good. And something told me that it had something to do with that titan and Thanos rising.

**A/N: So that's it! I hope you liked it! I just want to give you a fair warning: I'm going to be so busy for the next two or three weeks like you won't even believe. I hardly have any time to do homework let alone write, so I just wanted to warn you that if I don't update on Sunday, then I will try my hardest to do it on Monday. So, with that said, let me know what you thought of this little chappie, and I'll hopefully see you next Sunday!**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Sorry for this being a little later in the day. It's just that I've barely been home as it is, so I didn't have as much times as I would've liked writing this chapter. But it's here now! So enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or the Avengers. If I did, the sequels would be out a lot sooner. (I'm looking at you, Rick.)**

* * *

Chapter Seventeen

We got to the tower in pretty good time, I thought. The flying went smoothly, and we landed on the top of Avengers' Tower with no problem. I patted Blackjack once in appreciation and dismounted agilely from his back.

And promptly crumpled to the concrete roof.

While riding on Blackjack, I had forgotten that I had almost gotten my foot chomped off by the giant snake. It must not have healed all the way. I cursed at the roof and quickly stood up only to have the entire Avengers team—including Bruce now—standing way too close in my personal space with concerned expressions. Bruce quickly stepped forward and checked out my ankle once I had straightened myself completely (I had an arm slung over Blackjack, and I was definitely not putting any pressure on my bad foot.). He shook his head and said, "We need to go inside."

I sighed, relieved and annoyed. Relieved because my foot was just now starting to throb and ache and going inside was my best bet, and I really didn't want to know what it even looked like right now. Annoyed because I didn't know what the Hades was going on. I mean, okay, the gods weren't allowed to alter my destiny or something. But that didn't mean they couldn't tell me what I was up against. This was like fighting someone like Hercules blindfolded and with a toothpick. You were just bound to lose.

_How about a rain check on those sugar cubes, boss? _Blackjack said, interrupting my thoughts.

"Yeah, sure," I told him. "I know you won't let me forget or anything, right?"

Blackjack snorted and tossed his mane. _I thought you knew me better, boss. _

I laughed. "Yeah, yeah," I said, shoving him ineffectually. "Again, thanks for the help, buddy. You did great."

_No problem. What are favorite, amazingly handsome pegasuses for? And by the way, is it pegasi? Or pegasuses? _Blackjack wondered, completely off topic as usual. _What about pegapeople?_

"Don't know. Don't care," I teased. "You probably need to get going. I'll see you later. Get ready."

_Lemme guess. Yet another war? _

"You know how it is. Everybody wants us, obviously."

_You're tellin' me, boss. I'll see ya. Don't wait up for me or anything, _Blackjack said as sadly as he could.

"Bye, Blackjack," I managed to say without laughing. Who knew a pegasus could be so melodramatic? I watched him become a speck in the distance.

I felt Clint's arm loop around me on one side, and Natasha's wrap around me on the other. "Ready to hop, Mr. Rabbit?" Clint asked cheekily.

I rolled my eyes and grinned. "Shut up." Clint shook his head a snickered but helped me wobble over to the door with Natasha.

"Fair warning," Bruce said, "Fury and the Council are pretty ticked."

I groaned. "Of course they are. What did I do this time?"

Bruce shook his head. "I'll just tell you once we're in the tower. Could be bugs out here."

I stared at him. "Please tell me you're joking."

"Stranger things have happened." Bruce gave me a funny look, then smoothed his face over and let me through the door first. "Besides," he continued once we had all stepped in the door, "the Council can go live under a bride for all I care, right now. My priority is fixing that foot of yours."

"Yeah, what happened, anyway?" Tony asked curiously. "I didn't see."

"That thing decided I looked tasty once I got knocked in the water and decided it wanted a snack." I winced. That was a closer call than I had first imagined, now that I thought about it. "I managed to speed up enough to where it only snapped at my foot."

"It looks pretty painful," Steve noticed. He pressed to elevator button, and we all stepped in. He tapped the button for the Avengers' Floor. I accidently brushed my foot along the floor hobbling into the elevator, and I bit back a gasp. Okay, so this hurt way more than before. Steve kept looking at me with concern.

"I'm just avoiding looking at it right now," I admitted. "I might need more than water on this one since I'm running on empty as it is."

"Want big, strong Thor to carry you into the living room?" Tony asked, eyes sparkling. The elevator dinged politely, and I hobble-hop-walked off. I gritted my teeth when I lost my balance, and I reflexively put pressure on my right foot—my bad one. I closed my eyes for a second, forcing myself not to curse out loud like a sailor. Inside my head, however, was a completely different story. I let out a gust of air when I thought I had control of myself and opened my eyes again. I walked on like nothing had ever happened.

"I'm fine," I said. Tony raised an eyebrow skeptically, but didn't say anything further.

After what seemed like forever, we finally got to the living room. I plunked down on the couch and sighed with relief.

"Now, let's see," Bruce said, rubbing his hands together. "I'm gonna need some water, gauze, antiseptic, and my med kit. I think I might have to stitch it." He frowned thoughtfully.

"No, no, no, that's fine," I cut in hurriedly. "I can just heal most of it with water."

"Still, just bring the whole thing." Bruce looked at the team for a moment, waiting for something. "Well, are you just going to stand there?" he asked them.

Tony shook himself out of his daze and muttered something about getting the med kit and going off to retrieve it. The Thor went and got a five-gallon bucket half-full of water, and the others got towels and stuff. When they were all back in the living room, Bruce took out his med kit and opened it up, eyeing it speculatively. Meanwhile, I decided to man up and just look at my foot.

It was pretty bloody, if I do say so myself. Not my worst, definitely, but still worse than I was expecting. I had about four main grazes starting at mid-calf and ending at the bottom of my foot. They were pretty deep, and I think the stupid snake had actually gotten more than just skin and muscle. It had probably sliced a minor tendon. The edges around the main gashes were still bleeding sluggishly and had a reddish tint around the edges, showing that if I didn't take care of this, things would turn sour. That wasn't even counting the purple and black bruising around it. I had probably sprained my ankle, I thought sullenly. I heaved a giant sigh and stared down at my still-throbbing foot.

I scowled at it. I seriously had the worst luck ever. No joke. I rolled the end of my jeans up so it wouldn't get wet and dunked my foot into the water. I slowly relaxed as I felt the water start to do its thing.

I was already running on empty with this whole holding-down-a-giant-sea-serpent-via-ice thing, and trying to patch together more than just scraped skin was getting pretty difficult. I could feel my eyes involuntarily starting to close, and I instantly snapped awake. Time to wrap this thing up before I conked out.

I slowly stopped the healing process and took my foot out the water. I examined it post-water. It certainly looked better, I noticed, rotating my foot awkwardly. The four main gashes still looked kind of bad, but they were no longer as deep as they were. The bruises had faded to a manageable greenish-blue, and most of the swelling had gone down from the injury as a whole. I probably only needed to wrap it up for tonight and heal it the rest of the way tomorrow.

I looked up to where Bruce was staring at my foot. "You _have _to let me run tests on you one day," he murmured, looking at my foot with a grin.

I shrugged. "Yeah, sure. I don't mind."

"But you have to let me join," Tony chimed in. Bruce rolled his eyes and ignored him, getting out the antiseptic.

"This is going to hurt," he warned. He opened the cap to the bottle, and I smelled the sharp smell it brought with it.

"Of course it will," I muttered. I bunched up a towel in my hand and steeled myself. Bruce placed a towel underneath my foot and began to pour the antiseptic meticulously over my injury.

Did I ever mention how much I hate antiseptic? No? Well, I hate antiseptic. So. _Much._

I hissed and cussed pretty much the whole time. I creatively mixed in Ancient Greek curses, modern day language, and a bunch evil monsters' names all in a few colorful paragraphs. It was very tension-relieving and helped get my mind off what felt like a small fire on my foot.

"Dang, I've never heard anything like that," Tony commented. I scowled at him irritably, and he raised his hands in a placating manner, backing off. He sat down next to Clint on the couch.

Bruce screwed the cap back on when he was done. He dug around in his kit for a moment then pulled out this tube of something.

"It's a cream that works like Neosporin," he explained, carefully dabbing a pretty generous amount on the cuts. "Except it's much stronger."

Once he was done putting that on, he looked over my ankle and foot one more time. "You know, it looks like you sprained your ankle," he said, prodding at a green-colored bruise.

I winced. "You know, I was actually just thinking that."

"I guess I'll just have to wrap the bandages, then wrap it for a minor sprain," he said. "It doesn't look like a bad one, luckily."

I nodded and watched as he worked diligently. He tied the last part of the wrap with a small knot and snipped of the end. "Done." He began cleaning up his impromptu work station.

"Thanks," I told him.

He shrugged. "No problem." He snapped his fingers. "I need to tell you why Fury and the others are ticked," he remembered.

I blinked. I had completely forgotten about that. "Yeah, that sounds pretty important."

"So basically," he said, standing up and sitting down on the couch next to me, "they were going to talk to you about what they wanted you to be doing. Don't even ask what it was," he held up a hand before I could say something, "I wasn't listening to that part because the Council was being stupid."

"So they just wanted to give you this really simple job to see if you would be a good soldier and listen to whatever they told you and all that," Bruce continued. I saw Natasha let out a huff across the room. "So when you weren't here, they got mad because they had just been stood up by someone who should've had nowhere to go."

Bruce grimaced at this next part. "But then they asked where Tony and the others were going, so I had to tell them." Bruce chuckled. "They weren't too happy that you were off fighting something they didn't give you permission to. Not to mention you didn't even check in with them on how to handle the situation."

I scoffed. "Sorry, have they ever dealt with a giant, vicious water serpent? It would've been a waste of time. People could have gotten hurt."

"You know SHIELD and their rules," Tony said, annoyed. "Sometimes does more harm than good."

"So that's why they're mad?" I asked. Of all the reasons to be mad at me, they're going to pick a stupid one.

"Well, that and they just don't like you," Bruce added.

I shook my head. "They could be mad at me for something I actually did that was bad."

Bruce made a face. "Well, actually, I don't really think Fury's mad at you. I think he's more irritated that he has to deal with the Council now."

"That sucks," I said sympathetically. "You know, I just don't—"

I was cut off by an incoming IM. I hurriedly accepted it and smiled in relief when I saw Annabeth.

"Annabeth!" I breathed. "Great timing."

She raised an eyebrow. She was in her cabin, sitting on her bunk with what seemed like an endless amount of paper surrounding her. "Glad to hear it." She squinted her eyes. "Is that blood on your shirt?"

I blushed. "Uh, no?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever. You're a terrible liar." She tapped her finger to her chin, imitating a thinking pose. She ignored the team, who quickly scooted onto the couch so they could see what was going on. "You know, it's funny," she said. "The Stolls were just watching TV when they were interrupted by something. Care to guess what?" she asked snappishly.

I could've crawled under the rug and stayed there for a while until things calmed down. Annabeth was mad at me for some reason, and as usual, I had no clue why. "The power got cut," I tried. "Chiron caught them not doing their chores."

"Not quite," she said, almost coldly. "They were interrupted by the news. Something about what looked like a giant serpent in the ocean near Avengers' Tower. The cameras made it look like there was this guy with dark hair riding on a black pegasus. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?"

"Annabeth, I can explain," I started. She shook her head and glared at me.

"Explain _what, _exactly?" she said dangerously.

I gulped. "I have a perfectly logical explanation if you just let me tell you," I promised.

She looked at me for a minute, her eyes piercing through my body as she observed me. "You get five minutes," she said curtly.

I sighed. "Thank you." I swallowed. "So here's what happened."

I told her all the important bits, and ended with, "Now I know for sure something bad's going on; I don't even know what kind of sea serpent that thing was."

Annabeth shook her head like she couldn't believe what was going on. "You need to be more careful."

"That thing would've hurt people if I would've waited longer," I protested.

"I'm not talking about the monster, Percy! People could have seen your face! Did you ever stop to think about that?" she asked accusingly.

"Okay, fine, I'll just go put on my gear and waste some time. You know, have a little kid's arm _gnawed off _because I'm too worried about myself," I said sarcastically. I knew I was being a little harsh and that she was only worried about me, but I just couldn't stop.

"That's not the point and you know it," she snapped back. "The point is that you need to watch what you're doing. Not everyone who wants to get you is completely gone. Some things are just waiting for the right moment."

"That doesn't even matter," I said, frustrated. "It's always dangerous for me! I'm _supposed _to protect people. They don't know how to fight these things and I do, so I fix it for them. That's what we _do, _Annabeth."

"I know that!" she said, her eyes blazing. "You just need to think of yourself a little more so you can actually _live _long enough to do that!" she finished, breathing heavy.

I leaned back against the couch and rubbed my hand with my face. I breathed deeply to calm myself. "Okay, I'm sorry. I'll be more careful."

All the fight seemed to drain out of her. "Sorry. It's just there's lots of—"

"Stress?" I said for her. "Tell me about it."

"Camp Half-Blood isn't ready for another war," she admitted. "There's no way we can be in time."

I smiled slightly. "Ah, I wouldn't say that. Never say never."

"I didn't say never."

"Whatever," I said, waving my hand dismissively. "We're good?"

"Yeah, we're fine." She swept a strand of hair that had fallen in her face to the side. "Now about that serpent—I know what it is."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. "Wow, that was quick. What is it?"

"It's called a Ketea, or a Cetea; take your pick." Annabeth picked up a book from one of her piles and opened to a bookmarked page. "I don't know. It says here they can be pretty vicious when they want to be."

"Got that right," I muttered. "What else on the Ketea?"

"They've got lots of rows of really sharp teeth. Also says something about Nereides riding on their backs sometimes."

"Well, I rode on its back, and it didn't seem to like that," I said.

She paused where she was reading. "You did _what_?" she asked a pitch higher than usual.

"Nothing," I said quickly. "This has to have something to do with the Greek titan."

"Yeah, it does," she dropped the subject reluctantly. "This'll bring me one step closer to who or what it is."

"Yeah," I agreed. "It will." I frowned. "You probably have to go soon."

She nodded. "The conch's about to sound. How about I IM you tomorrow?" she asked. She played with the end of a blonde curl absently.

"Sounds good. Oh, and don't forget to get Leo and them," I reminded her. "They want to meet Earth's Mightiest Heroes." I smirked.

She started in surprise. "Oh my gods, I completely forgot they were here," she said. "Sorry, guys," she apologized to the team.

"It's fine," Natasha said.

"Yeah, we'll just talk to you guys tomorrow," Steve said, smiling.

"And you can tell us embarrassing stories about Percy." Tony grinned mischievously.

I rolled my eyes. "Can't wait." I shook my head and looked back up at Annabeth. "I guess I'll talk to you later."

"I guess," she said.

"Alright, bye. See you tomorrow."

"Bye," she said as the conch horn sounded in the distance. She smiled softly and waved a hand through the connection.

"Well, that was interesting," Clint said. "Do you guys usually go at it like that?"

"All the time," I said. "And wait till you meet my other friends." Clint shrugged.

Tony got up to go make popcorn, and Bruce decided to put in a movie "specifically for team bonding." I wasn't aware they had those. Natasha put on some movie called _The Hobbit, _and we all settled down.

Thor started snoring halfway through the movie, and Tony and Bruce started soon after. My eyes started drifting shut a bit later, and I smiled and let it happen. Because I knew, without a doubt, that I would be good tonight. I wouldn't have a nightmare. Because something had changed who knows when. Maybe it was today, maybe it was last night. But I knew, for some reason, that tomorrow would be a pretty sunny day in the world of Percy Jackson, no matter how dark the times.

**A/N: Yeah, yeah, so the ending was rushed in this chapter, and I really didn't like it. I'll just have to make the next one better! And now, to go do my dreaded homework. Feel free to kidnap me and take me far, far away from my school. So anyway, I'll see y'all next week! Ta ta!**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Guys. Guys, I'm so freaking sorry. I don't know what happened to make this so late except for the fact that this is the first time I've even been able to even **_**touch **_**my computer since I updated last Sunday. Yeah, I wrote this whole chapter tonight. So, I'm sorry again, but a lot of stuff came up and practically drowned me. So here's the chapter, and I hope you enjoy it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or the Avengers. I'll check into it though.**

* * *

Chapter Eighteen

I woke up all on my own. I was pretty proud of myself for that accomplishment.

I sat up slowly on the couch, yawning widely. The blanket that had been wrapped around me while I was asleep slipped off my shoulders and pooled around my waist. I blinked and rubbed my eyes. So this was what it was like to wake up without having a nightmare at all. I had forgotten what it felt like to get a _really _good night's sleep. I smiled sleepily and stretched out the kinks in my body. Then I realized a few certain people were missing from living room that had definitely been there when I had drifted off to sleep.

I sat up straighter where I was. "Jarvis, what time is it? Where's the team?"

"The team is in the kitchen. I believe they are discussing something of great import with the Director and most likely require your presence whenever you feel prepared to go in there," Jarvis replied, helpful as ever. "It is half past eleven."

"Half past_ eleven_?" I asked a few pitches higher than normal. I quickly untangled myself from the comfortable blanket and leapt up to my feet.

For the second time in gods knew how many hours, I had temporarily forgotten about my hurt foot. I cursed as I stumbled on it, pain shooting through my foot. I scowled at it and hopped to the kitchen in a rush. I had the weirdest feeling that I was going to get chewed out for something. You might as well call me the next oracle with how right I was about to be.

I came into the kitchen going at a pretty fast speed. The team looked up when they saw me. Fury was behind them on a large screen.

"Present," I panted. "What's up?"

Tony glanced me up and down and looked like he was trying very hard not to laugh. "Nice to see you too, Sharkboy. Ready to join the big kid meeting?"

I pulled up a chair and flopped into it. Propping my foot up on the empty chair next to me, I ignored the persistent throbbing in my right foot. I saw Bruce squinting at me disapprovingly, wrinkling his nose in irritation. Hopping from the living room to here was probably not a good idea on a bad foot, I thought absently.

"Yeah, what's the problem?" I asked.

"You mean besides the fact that your hair has probably never seen a brush?" Fury asked, raising an eyebrow. I blushed and self-consciously patted my hair down. "The problem is there's been another minor attack downtown."

I immediately grew serious, my hand dropping from my hair and landing on my lap with a quiet thud. "Details?"

"No one knows what it looked like," Fury said, staring at me hard with his eye. "There were a total of eleven injuries, most of them minor. Some common wounds were lacerations, claw marks, and bite marks."

I thought for a moment, then shook my head. "That could be anything. I would need more information to identify the thing."

"Speaking of identifying," Fury said, leaning forward and glaring at me. "You want to explain what that thing was yesterday evening?"

I fiddled with the hem of my shirt. "It was a Ketea. Vicious sea serpent."

"What was it doing over here?" Fury questioned.

"I'd tell if you if I knew," I said. "But I can tell you that whatever titan is involved with Thanos, he raised the monster. A monster like that can only be released from pretty deep in Tartarus."

Fury looked like this news didn't surprise him. "Well, you contained it. I'll give you that. But the news reporters are having a field day with it." My mouth dropped open. I mean, I guess I should have seen it coming, but still. Me being on the news was a bit not good. "The team will probably have to go do damage control during a press conference sometime in the next couple days."

Tony groaned, and I heard the others sigh. "Come on," Tony said exasperatedly. "Seriously?"

Fury rolled his eyes. "Shut up, Stark. We've got bigger problems."

"Bigger than giant monsters?" Clint asked skeptically.

"It seems like there's been some sightings of Loki around," Fury said, watching us closely for our reactions. "You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

I tried to keep my face as smooth as possible. If they others hadn't told him yet, then I certainly didn't need to. Fury passed his eyes over all the team, one by one. His eyes finally rested on me.

"You don't know anything about that, do you Percy?" he repeated to me, his voice dangerously soft. And I knew for sure in that moment. He knew that Loki had visited me. And I had a feeling that he was about to pop. His eyes narrowed on my face. His glare sharpened until the room felt frigid with the coldness of his gaze. "Do you want to tell me something, Mr. Jackson?" he snapped.

I gulped and stayed frozen in place. I was starting to miss the giant snake. I would rather have been dealing with it rather than Fury right now, for sure.

"Director—" Steve began.

Fury held up a hand to silence him. "If Mr. Jackson has something he wants to tell me, he can tell me himself."

I sighed, trying to unfreeze myself. "I know you know," I said. "So how?"

Fury shook his head. He was beyond mad. "How about I ask the questions from now on, hm?" When I didn't say anything, he continued on. "Do you know how serious this is? Keeping this information to yourself?" he said angrily. "Do you even have an idea of how much trouble you could've gotten in? Agent Smart found it out. He could have told the Council, but he decided to be nice." Fury ran a hand over his face in frustration. "What if the Council had gotten hold of this information? You would be locked in a cell as we speak."

"For the record, he did tell us," Bruce said.

"Are you his higher-ups?" Fury asked curtly.

"No," Clint answered, "but that doesn't mean—"

"Enough." We all got quiet. "I'll give you one more chance, Jackson. Don't tell us something like this again and see what happens," Fury said ominously. "I will be tapping into the GPS feed of your phone so I can know where you are at all times. Don't let me catch you somewhere you shouldn't be."

"You won't if I have a say in it," I promised.

Fury stared at me for a while longer, then nodded curtly. "So what did Loki say?"

"He informed Percy that it was Thanos who was in charge of this attack upon Midgard," Thor said, his voice just a touch too loud for talking normally. "He also said other things, but you already know them. We have thus added on to his information, which has proved truthful and valid." Thor had a hint of pride and happiness in his eyes at this statement.

Fury leaned back in his chair. "I want a video recording of the meeting. I know you have it, Stark."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Jarvis, send video to Captain Hook."

"File sent," Jarvis said coolly.

"Done," Tony said. "Anything else? We need to save you from the crocs again, Cap?"

Fury glared. "I would not test me today if I were you, Stark."

"So nothing else," Tony cut over smoothly. "Wonderful. Sorry to see your pretty face go so soon, but we'll have to save something to talk about for later. Chao, Hook." Tony disconnected the video feed before Fury could get in another word edgewise.

Natasha let out a huge sigh. "So how'd you sleep, Percy?"

I looked at her in disbelief for a moment, then shook my head slightly. If they were going to ignore the elephant in the room for now, then so was I. "Uh, best night's sleep I've had in a long while, actually."

Steve bobbed his head up and down a few times knowledgeably. "I thought it might be. That's why we didn't want to wake you for this meeting."

"You probably should have anyway," I said without really meaning it.

"Whatever," Tony said, waving his hand flippantly. "Fury was just in a mood today. He would've kept chewing you out if I wouldn't've cut him off." Tony frowned. "He's annoying like that."

I made a face. "Not the worst I've met," I said. Tony shrugged noncommittally. "So, any other important information I should know about?" I asked.

Clint grimaced. "Yeah, unfortunately. We have to have a meeting with some SHIELD people today. And you have to be there, too."

I groaned. "Sure. Why not?" I mumbled under my breath. "Who will be there besides us and Fury?" I asked louder.

Natasha thought for a moment. "Agent Smart will be there for sure and maybe a few other agents, too. It's just going to be a meeting about what we've collectively learned. Fury wants to make sure we aren't 'keeping anything else from him.'" I could hear the quotes around it.

"So when's the meeting?"

Bruce looked at his watch. "Oh, in about ten minutes."

I stared at him. "You're kidding me. Please tell me you're kidding me."

Thor shook his head sadly. "Unfortunately not, young hero. They will indeed be at the tower in ten minutes."

I dragged myself out of the chair forcibly. "I need to go take a shower and finish healing my foot."

"Might wanna make it snappy, Ariel," Tony said. "Now you've got nine minutes." I moaned loudly and all but ran to the shower.

I think that was the fastest I'd ever healed myself and taken a shower at the same time.

I speed-walked out of the shower into the kitchen on my newly healed foot. I sighed in relief once I got to the kitchen without having any mishaps. Like say, an incorrectly fixed foot, for example.

"Amazing. Made it with exactly one minute and twenty-seven seconds to spare," Tony praised.

"It's a gift," I told him, mentally making the water in my hair drip off until it was dry. I collected the water into a small water-ball and tossed it over into the sink. The team looked at the toss with appreciation. Clint grinned. "Goal."

We waited for the remaining minute and twenty-two seconds for Fury and the agents to get there. When they finally showed up, I can't say I was very surprised at their appearances.

The guy whose badge read "Agent Smart" looked like your average Joe SHIELD agent, if there was such a thing. Dark hair and eyes, fairly tanned skin, and pretty muscular. Not Hephaestus cabin muscular, but still. If you spotted him on the street, your eyes would pass right over him, which was probably one of the reasons he was such a good agent. He was able to blend in with the crowd when need be.

The other agents shuffled in behind him, looking around the kitchen curiously. They stood around awkwardly for a moment, not really sure where to go, until Tony waved them over to the seats. The other six agents sat down.

Fury walked in after, his eye glaring at everyone. He made eye contact with me for a few seconds, then scowled and moved on to take a seat at the head of the table, which was left empty for him no questions asked.

The team turned to look at me questioningly, and I shrugged helplessly. They gathered around the table, leaving me floundering for a moment when I saw that the only other empty spot was standing next to Fury. I paled and glanced at the team accusatorily. I saw Tony grin mischievously and give me a thumbs up, and Bruce just winced apologetically. I tilted my head skyward for a moment, then sighed and walked toward Fury with my metaphorical tail between my legs.

He didn't so much as give me a glance.

I pretty much zoned out of the beginning of the meeting. Now, that probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, but hello, ADHD here. And besides, the team could just tell me everything that was important. I let my mind wander to more important things.

Like what was going to be coming up soon. What was going to happen? It was like what Annabeth said—I wasn't sure if we could even fight a full-scale war again. Not that soon after the last one. It had only been about two and a half months since the end of the war. Maybe getting close to three. I just didn't think we could be ready by then. If I was being completely honest with myself, I didn't even think we could sew ourselves back together from all the pieces the war had taken out of us.

Did I even have two-thirds of the pieces of me? Was I slowly getting them back, or was that one of those things that stayed lost forever? I mean, I felt better since I had left camp. I didn't have all that crushing responsibility on me for the moment. It felt good being able to have a moment of weakness and not have everything else fall down around your ears with you.

I wondered, off-hand, how camp was doing. Were they doing the same? I hoped they were doing better. I knew Chiron and the gods were probably doing what they could but still. Even the gods could only do so much. Sometimes, you have to heal on your own, as I'm coming to realize.

"Mr. Jackson."

Fury saying my name impatiently brought me out of my short reverie. "Mr. Jackson, if you would come back down to Earth, that would be great," he said bitingly.

I blushed. "Yessir. Sorry."

Fury rolled his eyes and continued with his question. "Clint tells me that you will be having a meeting tonight with your demigod friends."

"We are," I confirmed. "Even though it's not really meeting. We were mostly going to meet and greet since they are going to be fighting with us. Nothing's really a meeting with Leo, either," I said, almost to myself. "But yeah, we can exchange info if that's what you're going for."

"You will be seeing what they know so far," Fury nearly commanded me. "Then you will report back to me and tell what everything of relevance was said. Do _not _skip out on any important information that will alter our course of action." He raised his eyebrow in a silent question while I saw an agent try not to smirk out of the corner of my eye.

I bit back my retort and instead looked him calmly in the eyes—er, eye. "Yes, sir. I'll report to you tomorrow since the conversation might run a little late."

Fury regarded me for another moment, then nodded. "Don't forget, Mr. Jackson."

"I won't," I promised.

Fury looked to Steve. "I believe we're done here. Keep me updated on anything new that happens. _Anything._"

"I will, Director," Steve said formerly.

Fury rose from his seat fluidly and motioned for the agents to stand. "We'll be keeping in touch," he said, his tone indicating it was as much as a warning as it was a statement. He walked out the kitchen, his agents trailing behind him like ducklings following their mother. Agent Smart turned back at the last second and nodded his head in a friendly manner with a small smile. He gave a small wave before walking out.

"I thought Fury was going to throw a hissy fit today," Tony said, sliding himself into a recently vacated chair. "He was being even ruder than usual."

"Tell me about it," Bruce muttered, taking the seat next to Tony. The rest of the team and I slipped into chairs with him.

"Oh, and thanks for tossing me to the wolves back there," I griped without any real heat. "I was almost _positive_ Fury was going to tear me apart."

"Nah, he usually waits until he knows you for at least a month," Clint said dismissively, leaning his elbow on the table casually. "The much more important thing I'm wondering is what exactly your friends are going to tell us that we don't already know."

I shrugged. "Cross that bridge when we get there? I don't know. Annabeth is an amazing researcher, and she probably assembled a little crew to help her when she couldn't do it herself." I told myself decisively that this would work before the all-powerful titan actually attacked himself. "We'll figure it out eventually."

"There was also something else Fury said before the meeting on the. . .screen," Thor said, trying to think of the word. "He mentioned another small attack on a downtown area."

I snapped my fingers. "That's right. I need to go take a look at that." I tapped a finger against my chin. "I mean, it's probably nothing huge, just the regular monsters over here, but still. I need to check it out to try and find a motive."

"One of us will go with you," Steve said. "I don't want you getting caught in a trap out there all alone with no backup."

"Fine," I conceded. "But whoever comes with me has to use the Celestial bronze knife I have in my bag."

"I'll go," Natasha volunteered. "I've got training in knives, so I'll just need to get a feel for the weight."

"It's almost perfectly balanced, so it shouldn't take you too long," I told her.

"When were you thinking of going?" Bruce asked.

I glanced at the digital clock in the kitchen. It read 1:17. Huh. I guess the meeting had lasted longer than I thought. "Five thirty," I decided.

"Any particular reason?" Bruce questioned curiously.

"Well, four is the Chinese number for death," I pointed out.

Tony wrinkled his brow. "How'd you know that but not that this tower was Avengers' Tower?" he asked.

I smiled sadly thinking of Frank for a moment. "I had a friend who told me that."

Natasha gave me a Look. A Significant Look. "Alright, so five thirty," she repeated, not taking her eyes off me.

"Right," I said. I looked back at her for a moment, then blinked and shifted my eyes away. Something told me she understood much more in that moment then any normal person would. I passed my eyes over all the Avengers contemplatively. "So what're we gonna do until then?"

"Well, I'm going to have lunch," Tony said slowly, "because I'm freaking s_tarving_. And then we can all go mess around gym and do something."

Steve frowned. "Like what?"

"I don't know. We'll wing it."

Steve managed to squint at Tony disapprovingly, which up until now I thought was impossible. "The last time we did that, we ended up having a bubble fight. It took forever to clean up."

"Fine," Tony said haughtily, crossing his arms like a petulant child. "Then you choose what we do."

Steve thought for a moment, then grinned. "How about a friendly board game?"

Let me just say, it was pretty intense in the living room up until about five, when me and Natasha started getting ready. And no, I'm not going to say anything else on the matter.

Because as Tony so tactfully put it while he was covered in glitter and drenched in water, what happens during a Game in the living room, stays in the living room.

**A/N: So that's it. And just because I gave you this chapter doesn't mean I'm not going to try my darnedest to give you another one this Sunday! But the next week is going to be absolutely **_**nuts **_**for me since we have a giant school function going. So, I won't be able to update probably the next Sunday in October. So I'm sorry! But I'll try to get it up as soon as I can. Thanks for all the reviews! I wish I could respond to all of them, but I'm just so busy. So see you this Sunday, hopefully.**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Well, I tried to get it out on Sunday. Really, I did. But I looked over it when I was nearly done, and I felt like it was terrible. So, I fixed it up and left y'all with a little cliffie at the end in honor of **_**The House of Hades**_** coming out next week. I'm so excited! Anyway, here it is, and I hope you enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: There shall come a day when I own the Avengers and Percy Jackson. Today is not that day.**

* * *

Chapter Nineteen

"Ready?" Natasha asked.

We were standing in front of the building downtown that had gotten attacked. We were dressed in regular business clothes, our weapons hidden. I had Riptide in my pocket, and Natasha had the Celestial bronze knife strapped to her hip and a gun strapped to her ankle. The building looked like a pretty normal building. It had the typical red brick everything else on the street had, and it wasn't huge or really tiny. It was medium-sized. It wasn't overly trashy or anything. If you would have seen it on the street, you probably wouldn't have noticed it, really. But there was one thing that Fury had neglected to mention about this place.

The building was a math-help center.

That's right. You heard me. It was a _math-help center. _What the Hades?

"Something about this doesn't seem right," I mentioned to Natasha as we entered the building dubbed "Mathnasium." I shook my head. "Why would a titan want to attack a math-help center?"

Natasha shook her head. "Maybe he wasn't going for the center. Maybe he was going for someone or something here?" she suggested.

"Like what?" I questioned. "Some more practice problems?"

Natasha rolled her eyes and ignored my question. She stepped up to the desk at the front, smiling in a friendly way at the lady. "Hi, ma'am. I'm here from the FBI, and I just wanted to ask you some questions about the attack that happened a day ago?"

The beyond-healthy-body-weight lady blinked at Natasha and gave a make-up coated smile that looked entirely too fake. Her dyed blonde hair reflected dully in the light of the place. She scratched at shoulder with what looked like some talons instead of a fashion statement for fingernails. "Of course, Agent. . .?" she trailed off, waiting for a name.

"Agent Rushman," Natasha answered, pulling out a fake ID we had printed and laminated before we came here. She flipped it open with ease to show the woman. She snapped it closed after a few seconds and slid it back into her pocket. "I only have a couple questions I wanted to ask just to clear a few things up. It shouldn't take more than five or ten minutes." Natasha gave a grin to the lady that so wasn't Natasha. I was impressed by her acting skills. I never would have guessed she was a secret master assassin who went on top secret missions.

The lady shifted her eyes to over Natasha's shoulder and glanced at me. She nodded her head towards me. "What's his name?" she asked Natasha. I raised an eyebrow at the way she completely ignored asking me a question. "He looks a little young to be working for the FBI." I felt a small blush creeping up my cheeks. I fiddled nervously with my fake badge, hoping she wouldn't ask to see it.

"He's my intern," Natasha said easily, waving a hand in my direction. "Here to learn and serve me as I see fit." Natasha gave a small laugh. "So, let's get to those questions, shall we?"

"I suppose it's okay. There aren't any customers here, anyway." Natasha smiled again and began asking her what happened, where she was, etc. Really, I did make an effort to pay attention to conversation because hello, important, but then I saw something out of the corner of my eye.

It was a TV.

With _me _on it.

I felt my mouth drop open in shock, and I quickly darted my eyes over to Natasha and the woman's conversations to see if they noticed. They were too preoccupied to notice my reaction, luckily. I focused my attention back on the TV and what the news woman was saying while I watched myself ride a giant sea serpent.

"We still are not sure who this individual is," the news anchor said. "His name and appearance remains mostly unknown. The physical characteristics of the male are as follows: he has a dark hair color, he seems to be under the age of twenty-five, and, as far as we can tell, he travels by flying horse. Pegasus, however, is the more correct tem," the woman said.

"There is no other word on what this monster was, other than the fact that it looked to be some kind of sea serpent," she continued, brushing some hair out of her face. "We cannot say if this monster appearing means other things are rising along with it or it was just a one-time occurrence. Questions must be asked by this appearance. Does this have anything to do with the Battle of New York?" The anchor woman shot the camera a lipsticky smile. "What do you think, John?"

The camera panned to John the reporter at the site of the docks where the monster had attacked. "I don't know about you, Jen, but if I may be so bold as to speak for everyone when I say this: we owe you our thanks, whoever was on the docks. In fact," John said, grinning, "we have a few witnesses who like to say a few words."

The camera shifted over to a pair of girls who looked about twenty, twenty-one years old. "I just wanted to say thanks," the one on the right said breathlessly. "I was on the docks when I saw that thing, and I knew it was probably going to hurt a lot of people if it wasn't stopped."

The girl next to her smiled and finished what her friend was probably going to say. "So, if you're watching, thanks."

The camera went back to Jen and John, and they began to talk about what kind of person the hero was and a bunch of other stuff. I couldn't believe I was still on the TV. They had footage of me _fighting _the thing. What if they found out who I was? That couldn't happen. That would completely ruin my lifestyle. I wouldn't have to worry about monsters finding me quickly when I had people doing it first. I came back to Earth when Natasha placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Ready, Mr. Johnson?" Natasha asked me.

I shook my head slightly to clear it. "I'm ready if you are, Agent Rushman."

"Great," Natasha said. She turned back to the woman at the desk. "Thank you, Ms. Grace, for your time," Natasha told her gratefully. "I hope you have a nice day."

Grace smiled oddly at us. "You're quite welcome, Agent. Anytime. Have a lovely day." She smiled, which looked more like baring her teeth, and waved at us. She went back to the work on her desk. I had no idea what she could have been doing, though, since there wasn't anyone in the Mathnasium. I put it down to them just being attacked backing up business paperwork. Natasha and I turned away from her desk to walk out. As I was turning, my eyes caught a glimpse of something on her desk.

There was a paper with a name on it. I frowned to myself. That name seemed really, really familiar, I thought to myself. I shrugged it off and went to catch up with Natasha. I halted halfway through, however, when I thought came to me. I _knew _where I had seen that name.

I'd seen it in a Greek book. Under titans that had been _thrown into Tartarus by the gods. _I froze where I was and quickly turned around to look at the lady, everything suddenly clicking into place.

Just in time to see said desk come hurtling at my face.

"Down, Natasha!" I screamed as I plastered myself to the floor.

I just had time to cover my head with my arms from the flying wood shrapnel before I was yanked harshly up to my feet and slammed against the wall, forcing the air out of my lungs with a _whoosh._

"Hello, little demigod," the monster snarled. Her face had become grotesque from the last few seconds I had seen her. Her teeth had sharpened to points, and what I thought were her fingernails had grown even longer to _really _become talons. Her hair hung in limp, greasy curtains around her face, which definitely wasn't winning any beauty competitions. She grinned fiercely at me.

"I liked you better with all the makeup," I wheezed. She growled and cracked my head against the wall forcibly. I was pretty sure I saw a few stars.

"Shut up," she said, glaring at me. "If it were up to me, I would have eaten you already. But the Boss wants you alive." The monster scowled like she couldn't understand why anyone would want a live demigod. "He said you're important or something."

"I feel so honored," I said a touch airily, swaying a little where I was held against the wall. I'm not going to lie—I was feeling a little woozy. "What even are you?" I asked rudely.

She wrapped a giant hand around my neck. "That is none of your business," she said as she started applying pressure to my windpipes—which I needed for sure, thank you very much.

"Have you ever heard of a manicure?" I gasped as one of her nails nicked my cheek. "I think you could use one. It would be very beneficial to you." I tried snaking a hand into my pocket while I was talking, hoping that she wouldn't notice I was reaching for my sword. But, of course, I had the worst luck in the world. The monster noticed just as I was about to draw it out.

I was pretty sure I saw her eye twitch as she crushed my hand in an iron grip and smashed my hand against the wall. My pen fell to the floor with a dull _clang _and I bit down on my lip when I felt my hand crunch solidly. I must have fractured something, I thought.

"Natasha!" I called. "Now would be a good time to try and crawl out from underneath that desk."

Grace the Gruesome shook me roughly. "Quiet! You're coming with me." She began to haul me away from the wall and to the back door, with me struggling the whole way.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I said, trying to pull away. "Where are you taking me?"

"The Boss' lair," she said matter-of-factly. "I told you before he needs you."

"Which is where?" I asked nervously, planting my feet in the floor, trying to stop.

"You'll just have to see," she smirked, yanking on my arm again. She grabbed my other arm to prevent me from reaching into my pocket for Riptide, which should've been back by now. I groaned.

"No, thank you," I said. I kicked her in the stomach futilely, and all she did was snort and sock me in the face.

Which hurt a lot, I thought as my head snapped to the side.

"Natasha!" I yelled louder. "This monster needs to be put down by a certain knife that is on your person!"

The monster frowned. "If you will not be quiet," she said, "then that means that I will have to _make_ you be quiet."

My eyes widened, and I ducked as another huge fist came swinging at me. I yelped as I felt my feet swept out from under me.

The monster's eyes gleamed with excitement as she shoved a knee into my ribcage. I groaned as I felt a few of them crack. What did they feed these freaking monsters nowadays? "Boss said to bring you back alive. He didn't say you had to be in perfect condition."

"Natasha!" I moaned. "I need some help, please. Like, now."

The monster punched me squarely in the face. "I told you to be quiet!"

I rolled my eyes as best as I could around the swelling. "This is so sick and twisted," I told the ceiling in disbelief. "This monster's nuts."

The monster raised her fist for what I thought was the KO hit, and I closed my eyes. I waited for a second, then realized that nothing was going to come when I saw Natasha standing in front of me with her body coated in monster grime. She had the knife gripped in her hand defensively.

"You're welcome," she said. She cleaned her knife off on the hem of her shirt.

I stared at her for a moment, then wordlessly held my hand out to her so she could help me up.

I looked around the room once, taking in the damage. One desk thrown around the room. Check. One Percy-sized crater in the wall. Check. One employee needed as of one minute ago. Check.

This little recon mission just went so well, I thought sourly to myself, holding my injured hand to my chest and my uninjured hand to my ribcage. Me and Natasha walked out the door calmly, ignoring the damage behind us.

Once we had gotten a ways down the street, I finally turned to her, brushing aside the sharp twinge in my ribs. "You hurt anywhere?" I asked her.

"I was knocked out for a few minutes," she admitted feeling the small patch of dried blood near her temple. "But besides that, I just have a few bruises. Nothing huge." She took in my hunched-over walk and my grimace. "What all happened to you before I was up and running again?" she asked, stopping me with a hand on my shoulder. She gently pressed against my ribs, trying to assess the damage. I breathed deeply through my nose and tried not to squeal like a little girl.

"I got slammed into a wall a few times, and then socked in the face," I said flatly. "And I'm pretty sure that thing fractured my hand. She shoved her giant knee up into my ribcage, too."

Natasha winced in sympathy. "What about those bruises?" She nodded to my neck.

I probed my neck with my fingers curiously. "She said I needed to be quiet so she started choking me."

Natasha shook her head with an odd expression on her face. "That had to be the weirdest fight ever," she commented. She nudged me with her hand gently, and we began walking back to the tower.

"It wasn't really a fight. I was just getting beat up, pretty much."

"So we didn't really learn anything, did we?" Natasha asked, frustrated.

I turned to look at her in surprise before I realized she didn't even know who the titan was. "Well, one of the reasons she probably attacked was because she knew that I knew who her boss was. It's the titan running the show with Thanos."

"Who is it?" she asked, eyes wide. She must have been really surprised. Natasha never showed too many of her emotions in public.

"It was on a piece of paper, and I recognized it from this Greek book I read," I replied. I looked around hesitantly. "I'd tell you now, but you can't be too careful. Who knows what's on the streets right now."

Natasha caught on immediately. "You think something is trailing us? Like what?"

"I don't know," I said. "But I know I don't want to get mugged on the way home by anything. So I'll tell you at the same time as the others.

"Alright, fine," Natasha sighed. "We'll talk about it with the team. And your friends."

I snapped my fingers. "I need to call them immediately."

"Well, we have to get to the tower first," Natasha said. She closed her eyes for a moment then reopened them. "We should've taken one of Tony's cars. We still have to walk two miles to the tower." She frowned.

I groaned. "You're kidding."

"Russians don't kid," she deadpanned.

I laughed. "Yeah, whatever," I said sarcastically.

Natasha shrugged and continued walking. I shook my head and followed.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Honey, I'm home!" I said as soon as we entered into the kitchen.

Bruce walked into the kitchen with his med-kit. "Tony, you owe me two ice cream tubs!" he yelled. He smiled at us, adjusting his glasses. "We had a bet that if Percy was hurt the worst, I'd get two ice cream tubs," he explained. He waved me to a seat and cracked open his med-kit.

"I take offense to that," I told him.

"No, you don't," Tony said as he walked in, rolling his eyes at Bruce. "You just got lucky."

"Sorry, who owes who two ice cream tubs? Oh, that's right. You owe me."

"Geez, would you look who's on their man period? You're moodier than—"

"Guys," Natasha cut them off. She pointed at me impatiently.

"Right." Bruce took out his med kit and started setting his stuff on the table. I stopped him after a second.

"I got it," I said. "I'm not that tired." I sighed and picked a stray piece of wood out of my hair from the desk fiasco. "Besides, I need to be up and at 'em since things are going to be getting a lot more interesting soon."

"What will be more interesting?" Thor asked, walking in the kitchen with Steve and Clint trailing behind him.

"I know who the Greek titan working with Thanos is."

Steve's eyes widened. "You know for certain?"

"He hasn't even told me yet, so he must be pretty sure," Natasha huffed, folding her arms across her chest. "He didn't want anything on the street to overhear us."

"I am," I confirmed. "And did you want to get jumped on the way home? You would've had to do almost all the fighting."

"We can get to that later," Clint said, waving aside the argument. "Who is it?" he asked. The team looked at me expectantly.

"Coeus," I said grimly. "The titan of intelligence."

**A/N: Hehe, I'm so evil. Okay, so remember that I can't update this weekend because I literally will be busy the whole time. So I hope this can hold you over until I update next. I'll try and update as soon as I can. Hopefully I can get back on my normal schedule. I wish things would slow down… Anyway, reviews are always appreciated. If you have anything you want to tell me, just drop me a review! I'll try to answer them. Thanks, guys!**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: What's this? An actual update on a Sunday? Yep, that's right. I think we're back on schedule, folks. So enjoy! Oh, and read the A/N at the bottom because I've got an important question. The whole smoldering/Leo on fire idea goes to queenkitty2013. Thanks for the idea!**

**Disclaimer: Nope. I don't own Percy Jackson or the Avengers. Yes, I'm depressed about it.**

* * *

Chapter Twenty

"The titan of _intelligence_?" Tony asked in surprise, eyes going wide.

"Unfortunately," I confirmed. "Everything's starting to click now." And really, it was. Everything that had happened, all the little fights, seemed as though they were connecting themselves. It was like not wearing glasses when you needed them and then finally putting them on after a while and actually _seeing _things for what they were.

"It is?" Clint asked, eyebrows raised. The team also had looks of confusion. I looked at them for a moment, trying to take in the feeling of actually knowing what was going on before everyone else instead of dead last.

"Okay, so I've got some explaining." I took a deep breath, gathering my thoughts. "I need some water," I realized. I prodded at my impressively swollen eye and grimaced. I went to stand up from my chair was pushed back down almost immediately.

"I got it," Bruce said, already on his way over the kitchen.

Tony frowned. "What's that stuff that demigods can eat or drink that immediately heals them called? Ambrosos or something?"

"Ambrosia and nectar," I corrected.

"Yeah, that," Tony said flippantly. "Why don't you just eat some ambrosia and heal yourself without water?"

"Too much can literally burn me up, and I want to save the stuff for an emergency." I accepted the bowl of water Bruce handed to me with a sigh of relief. "You never know when you or some other person could need it more." Tony nodded in understanding.

I picked up the water bowl and unceremoniously dumped it over my head. I contained the water to just my body. I felt a warm feeling spread over my body as the cuts closed themselves up and the bones sealed the cracks in themselves all on their own. I swept the leftover water back into the bowl and blinked rapidly a few times. I set the bowl back on the table.

"Do you guys want me to explain everything to you right now or tell you when I tell you the others?" I yawned and shook my head to wake up a little. A nap sounded really good right now, I thought as I suppressed another yawn.

"Is it a lot?" Natasha questioned.

I thought for a moment. "Sort of," I told her. "It's just taking everything that's happened so far and connecting it, really."

"You can wait, if you want," Steve said. "You sound like you barely have enough energy to say it once."

"Got that right. I need to call them now." I stood up and stretched. It was good to not look like a punching bag, I thought. Or feel like one.

"Why don't you wait thirty minutes and take a little cat nap?" Bruce suggested. "At this rate, you're going to fall asleep in the middle of your story."

"That seems like a wise course of action," Thor said solemnly. "A warrior needs his rest."

"I don't know…" I said. Even though the couch was calling my name, this stuff was kind of important. Annabeth would want to know.

"Just thirty minutes," Tony promised.

"Okay, fine," I relented. "Thirty minutes only."

The team dispersed to go wherever they usually went, and I stumbled off to the couch in the living room. I all but collapsed onto it and immediately started drifting off. But of course I couldn't be left alone for a simple little thirty minute nap. That would be too easy.

In my dream, I was in a room. Unfortunately, I recognized it. It was the same room a certain god of lies and mischief had talked to me in about meeting me in the flesh. Sure enough, I heard a voice clear its throat behind me and immediately whirled around to face him.

"Hello, Perseus," Loki drawled. "Long time, no see."

"Loki," I said, not displaying any emotion on my face.

"So," Loki began, waving a hand in a sweeping motion, a comfy chair appearing behind him. He sat down gracefully. "You've finally figured out, have you?"

"If you mean have I figured out who the titan was, then the answer's yes," I said. I raised an eyebrow at him. "But I'm sure you already knew who it was, didn't you?"

"Of course," Loki said like it was obvious. "Did you honestly think I didn't?" He frowned when he noticed me still standing and waved his hand again, a fold-up plastic chair that looked like it had seen better days appearing. I sighed when I saw it, comparing it mentally to the plush chair Loki was sitting in. _Gods these days, _I thought to myself. I took the seat anyway.

"That's not all I was talking about, however," Loki said once I had managed to sit down without the chair threatening to tip over on its feeble legs. "I was more implying everything before that."

"You mean the fights? Yeah, they make sense." I sat rigid in my chair, and not just because if I moved the chair would probably collapse. More like I didn't trust this god. His title practically screamed it after all. God of _lies _and _mischief. _How was I sure that I wasn't just his new toy to play around with while he was bored?

"Wonderful of you to finally catch up," Loki said condescendingly. "Though, I must admit, I'm a bit surprised you didn't get it before. Or at least your little girlfriend," he almost sneered. "Isn't she supposed to be smart?"

"Are you trying to make a pun or is that just a coincidence?" I said lamely, trying not to get irritated.

"I like to think I'm just that _intelligent,_" he smirked. "But that is not what I came here to tell you."

"Then what did you hijack my dreams for?"

"I must speak to you about other important matters," he said vaguely.

"Yeah, I kind of figured," I told him, rolling my eyes. "Mind getting on with it?"

Loki huffed a huge sigh. "You demigods are so pompous and arrogant."

"At the rate we're going, I'm going to be a middle-aged man by the time you actually start talking," I said in a snarky voice, checking my nonexistent watch.

"I believe that there have been recent rumblings in Tartarus," Loki snapped. He muttered something about smiting me repeatedly.

I shook my head in disbelief, my eyes wider than usual. "Not possible," I said slowly. "The gods said things down there wouldn't be stirring for at least five years. The big things, at least." This could not be happening. I couldn't accept it. I _wouldn't _accept it. After everything the demigods had sacrificed, and it felt like it was all for nothing. The monsters just wouldn't stay down.

"Obviously they are stirring or else I wouldn't tell you." Loki narrowed his eyes at me.

"You could be lying."

"You know that I am not lying."

He got me there. Don't ask me how, but I knew he wouldn't lie about this. Sure, he might be all for ruling this earth, but he definitely wasn't exited about things in Tartarus starting to move around. Actually, I was pretty sure _no one _was happy about that. So that whole lying thing was out for this time.

"How do you know?" I rubbed my face tiredly. _Was it even possible to be tired in a dream?_ I thought absentmindedly.

"Do you really need me to give you evidence when you have it right in front of your very nose?" Loki asked disdainfully.

"The serpent," I said. Loki nodded at me to go on. "It shouldn't have regenerated or anything yet. It should have still been in Tartarus."

"Indeed, it should have been," Loki agreed. "Now, what might a monster of its caliber be doing out of its little cage?"

"Coeus brought him up to test me," I realized.

"And the other skirmishes were probably for the same reason. If he wanted you dead," Loki said disinterestedly, picking at his nails, "you would either be dead or very near to it."

"Awesome," I muttered. I scratched at my head. "So are we done here?"

"Gladly." Loki stood up, and I stood quickly, too, before he could vanish my chair beneath me or something.

He looked at me with a characteristic smirk on his face. "Don't you think it's time to wake up now?"

"I've actually got a quick question," I interrupted before he could wave a hand to wake me up. "Why are you helping us? Got a soft spot for us or something?" I stepped closer and tried not to feel good about myself when I saw Loki lean back a tiny, almost unnoticeable fraction. "Or are you just not 'evil' as you like to think you are?" I wasn't really sure why I was asking this. Maybe it was to get back at him for the rickety chair thing. Maybe I actually wanted to know.

Or maybe I thought that there was a tiny, little bitty smidgeon of good in him.

"I do not have to answer your question," he said coldly, instantly tensing up.

"Personally, I think that Thor's right for not giving up on you yet," I continued, undeterred by his iciness. "He's a good brother. You're probably just a big teddy bear underneath that Asgardian armor you guys like to wear, anyway," I said, grinning at my ability to make up Loki puff up like a cat.

"He is not my brother," Loki said through clenched teeth. Must've hit a nerve there.

"Yeah, you are," I said dismissively. "So tell me, Loki. Doesn't it get old running all the time? Aren't you lonely?" I asked, relentlessly firing off questions.

"I am perfectly content in my life," Loki said, glaring at me. "I would advise that you stay out of my life if you would like to live long enough to be content in yours."

"Whatever, Loki. You might be the master of lies, but you sure suck at your job right now," I said boldly. I still didn't know why I was persisting or what I was trying to draw out of him through all of this besides getting seriously maimed. Maybe I was trying to crack that hard shell? Or, you know, I was just crazy. I saw Loki narrow his eyes and scowl dangerously. Definitely crazy, I confirmed, tensing up for a fight.

I saw Loki curl his fingers in a fist. He shook his head, looking like he was physically restraining himself from rearranging my face. He swept his hand through the air and suddenly, my eyes were flying open. I gasped for air on the couch, Bruce's hand inches from my shoulder. He was probably about to wake me up, I thought, unsuccessfully trying to get my heart rate down to a reasonable, steady beat.

"I had a little visit from Loki," I explained, putting a hand over my chest. I was pretty sure my heart was trying its hardest to jump its way out of my chest it was hammering so hard. It actually hurt a little bit.

Bruce sighed and clapped a hand on my shoulder briefly. "I'll get the team," he said.

"Yeah."

He walked away to get the team, and I dug around in my pockets for something I always kept in there these days: a golden drachma. I finally found it and fished it out, setting it on the table. I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a cup of water. I hoped the artificial light would be enough to bend it into a rainbow.

I waited patiently for the team to come. I tried to sort out all of my thoughts. I wondered, off-hand, what the gods were thinking of all this. Were they enjoying watching me scramble around for any piece of information, or were they more pitying? I liked to think that they were better these days than they were a few years ago.

This all really sucked, I thought glumly. I mean, I want to help anyone I can, but I don't want to break myself in the process. I knew I would be hard-pressed to defeat Thanos, but with Coeus? That would be near impossible. If not impossible. Did I honestly think I could defeat the titan of intelligence? I obviously wasn't the brains of this whole shebang.

Maybe I would have to do something so incredibly stupid that he wouldn't even see it coming because it was so stupid. But how could I come up with an incredibly stupid plan when I didn't even know what he was going to do?

"Hey, Perce," I heard Tony greet behind me. I turned around to look at him as he and the rest of the team all squeeze themselves onto the couch with me so we can all be seen in the IM. "Bruce tells us you had another little visit from Reindeer Games. What'd he say?"

"I guess you'll find out when I tell Annabeth and them," I said, grinning a little. I manipulated the water out of the cup and started to bend it to catch the lights. After a minute I finally got it. An image immediately popped up of Fleecy without me tossing the drachma into the rainbow.

"Hello, Percy," she greeted warmly. "Would you like me to pitch you through to Annabeth?"

"Hey, Fleecy," I smiled. "That would be great." I pocketed my unneeded drachma.

Fleecy grinned one last time at me, and then an image of Annabeth working at her desk appeared.

"Do you ever stop working, Wise Girl?" I teased. I laughed when she jumped a little.

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain," she said, blushing. "I was trying to figure out this whole titan mess." She turned to the team. "Hey, guys." The team gave a chorus of _heys_ and _hellos_ and _nice to see yous._

I chuckled, scratching at my neck. "Yeah, about that."

Her mouth dropped open. "You know who it is, don't you?"

"Maybe a little bit."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "I'll get the others. Warn your friends." She disappeared from the image.

I grimaced and turned to my friends. "Fair warning: they all think you're amazing. Good luck with Leo." I cocked my head to the side, thinking. "Of course, I think Leo and Tony will get along fine."

Tony raised an eyebrow in question. "How do you mean?"

"Oh, you'll see," was all I would say.

After about five minutes, we finally heard voices.

"Oh my gosh, we're actually going to meet the Avengers?" I heard a voice ask that sounded like Leo's.

"Yes," Annabeth said patiently, like she was talking to a child. Which was kind of true, in a sense.

"They're so perfect," Piper sighed.

"I would love to just practice with them," Jason dreamily. I knew, just _knew, _that he was so fanboying.

"Like, how about just see them in person?" Leo said. "They're so awesome."

"Well, you're about to," Annabeth said. "So come on. Let's not keep them waiting any longer."

"Yeah, okay," they all managed to breathe at the same time.

Suddenly, they were all in the IM at the same time. Leo, Jason, and Piper were all smiling like crazy while Annabeth was looking at them and shaking her head.

I cleared my throat to get everyone's attention. They managed to tear their eyes away from the Avengers with difficulty and sat down on Annabeth's bunk. "Guys," I told the Avengers, "this is Leo, Jason, and Piper." They all gave a small wave whenever I said their name, still smiling goofily. I rolled my eyes and pointed to each of the Avengers, saying their names. "Natasha, Clint, Steve, Tony, Bruce, and Thor."

I snapped my fingers to get their attention. "Okay, so we found out who the titan was today," I said, immediately getting down to business.

"You mean _you_ found out," Natasha corrected.

"Alright, so who is it?" Jason said, composing himself and concentrating with difficulty on what was at hand.

"So here's everything that's happened," I started. I told them all about the recent attacks, learning about the titan Coeus, and Loki's predictions. They didn't say much while I was talking, except for the occasional question or off-topic comment by Leo. When I was finished, they all stared off into space for a moment, thinking.

"Are things really stirring in Tartarus?" Leo said wearily.

"Everything looks like it's pointing that way. Sorry, man," I told him.

Leo shrugged. "Nothing we can do about it."

"Did Loki mean titans or titans and monsters or what?" Annabeth asked worriedly, her brow creasing. I felt the irrational urge to brush my hand over the wrinkles until they went away. I sighed instead.

"Honestly, I've got no idea. I guess we'll just have to see."

"But that's not all you wanted to tell us, right?" she said, knowing I wasn't done because she's just _that good. _

"I was just gonna say how this all makes a lot more sense now." I shrugged. "You've probably already connected it, but I'll just say it to put it out there." Piper nodded and fiddled with her camp necklace.

"So that first attack on the building with me and Steve probably wasn't meant to happen," I said, "and I know for sure Coeus really didn't want someone leaving that note. We probably just caught them while they were clearing up. " I grimaced. "And then there was the fight with the hellhound, which I think might've been a little test to see my fighting style or something."

"Your fighting style?" Jason asked questioningly.

"Yeah," I confirmed. "Then he raised that giant serpent from Tartarus to test me in my element of water, I think." I paused for a minute, scratching my head. "And last, we've got the little skirmish that happened today."

"That sounded planned to me," Annabeth commented.

"I was thinking that myself," I agreed. "It just felt like it was a little too obvious."

"Was it the Mathnasium building that gave it away or the piece of paper left on the desk that made it too obvious?" Leo said.

"You mean the desk that thing threw at me?" I asked sarcastically. "How about all of the above."

"You still never said what attacked you at the math place," Piper noticed. "What was it?"

I shook my head. "See, that's the thing. I don't even _know _what that thing was. It kinda looked like some kind of hybrid or mutant of monsters."

Jason wrinkled his nose. "Gross. Monster interbreeding?"

Annabeth sighed. "I wouldn't put it past Coeus. He _is _the titan of intelligence for a reason."

"Great," I muttered. "Now we've got little monster mutants that are designed to win against us."

"Monsters these days," Annabeth said sympathetically.

I turned to the team, who had stayed mostly quiet throughout this whole thing. "What do you guys think?" I asked.

Steve rubbed a hand over his face. "I think I need to call Fury. And then take a bottle of Advil to kill the migraine I'm probably going to get."

Tony rolled his eyes. "No, first we've got to talk to Percy's friends. The only thing we know about them is their name."

I saw Leo grin manically out of the corner of my eye, and I groaned. "Here we go."

"I'm Leo Valdez, son of the awesome Hephaestus." He noticed a patch of his shirt smoldering from his excitement, and patted it out. "I can set things on fire," he said, almost apologetically.

"I'm Piper McClean," Piper said with an easy smile. "Daughter of Aphrodite."

"And I'm Jason Grace, son of Jupiter," Jason said. "Or Zeus, if you like the Greek name."

"It is nice to meet you young warriors," Thor grinned widely. "I have heard many things about you in the halls of Odin."

Their eyes widened comically, and I chuckled. "Apparently, they all switch stories about us," I explained. "They really like ours."

"That's awesome," Leo breathed. "Well, awesome that they know about us, not about our stories or whatever. Our stories sucked." We didn't say anything. He took out a few tiny parts from his tool belt and started fidgeting with them.

Tony picked up on what he was doing almost immediately. "You do that, too?"

"Huh?" Leo blinked and stopped fidgeting for a second. "Uh, yeah," he said. "I've got to have something to do with my hands. ADHD and all."

Tony nodded. "So what kind of stuff you build?"

Leo smiled. "Dude, you have no idea."

And it went on from there. Everybody talked about different topics, ranging from architecture (Annabeth), powers (everybody), and even the best ice cream flavors (mostly Leo, if you could guess.)

Minutes flew by and we didn't even realize it until we started yawning.

After Tony's fifth yawn, he sighed. "J, what time is it?" He rubbed at his eyes.

"It's ten thirty, sir," Jarvis replied, his cool voice washing over me.

Annabeth frowned, disappointed. "I suppose we need to get to bed."

"Yeah," I said. "I'll IM when we get more news."

"Okay," they said reluctantly. "Anything else you want me to tell Chiron?" Annabeth asked.

"Yeah. Tell Chiron he needs to start training people again," I said.

"Wait, what?" Leo said, snapping back to attention. "Did I just hear you right?"

I winced. "Yeah. I wouldn't say that unless I was absolutely sure we would most likely need you guys."

"Are you sure that they're ready?" Annabeth asked, forehead crinkled.

"They have to be," I said grimly.

We said our goodnights and ended the call. The team and me all went to our rooms. I crawled into bed after a quick shower and tried to fall asleep. Somehow, I knew I would be needing all the sleep I could get in the upcoming days.

**A/N: Okay, so I was wondering if I should put a cover on this story? You know the pictures people put as a cover to describe their story or whatever. So should I find someone to do it? I don't know, if you want to put a suggestion in to me about this or want to do the cover for me, just PM me or leave a review. Thanks!**

**Also, did anyone read **_**The House of Hades**_**? IT WAS SO AMAZING. LIKE, I CAN'T. **


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Okay, so I know it's late, but apparently it's conditioning month in basketball. Which means that I don't have time to even touch my computer because I'm so tired. I wrote basically this whole chapter tonight, so if there's mistakes or it seems choppy, sorry. Enjoy the chapter, anyway! **Oh, and I've decided that the 425****th**** reviewer gets a one-shot of their choice since I've been itching to write one. I'll send you instructions if you get it, and that will be that!****

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or the Avengers. If I didn't the sequels would come out a lot sooner.**

* * *

Chapter Twenty One

I woke up from a typical nightmare and decided to get up and stop being lazy. Which was kind of new because I wasn't usually lazy.

I hauled myself up anyway and got dressed in some simple jeans and a Camp Half-Blood T-shirt. I loped over to the kitchen to grab something to eat. I walked in and saw Clint munching on some toast at the table. He nodded a greeting at me as I plucked a banana off its stem.

"Where's the rest of the team?" I asked as I slid into a chair across from Clint. I bit into the banana, rubbing at my eyes.

"I think Tony and Bruce are down in the labs." Clint wiped some stray crumbs off his lips. "Thor and Natasha are in the gym. And I think Steve is calling Fury about everything right now. He'll tell us what Director Eyepatch said when he's done, and we'll probably have a little team meeting."

"Sounds good to me." I got up and threw away my banana peel. "How much longer you think the call's going to be?"

"At least another thirty minutes knowing Fury."

I grimaced. "Poor Steve."

Clint sighed. "Tell me about it."

"Well, if you're looking for me, I'll be up on the roof. I need to talk to my dad," I said. Clint nodded and said he was going to go join Natasha and Thor in the gym.

I walked up to the roof and went right to the edge, leaning on the concrete wall. I didn't even have to glance sideways to know my dad was already there.

"You know, I could almost say that the gods were stalking me," I said, looking out over the city.

"What can I say? We don't really have a life," Dad joked, smiling. I grinned with him. I slowly let it fade when I thought of what I needed to talk to him about in the first place.

"So Coeus, huh?" I looked over at him, and he faced me after a second. "The titan of intelligence?"

"Looks like it," he said, wincing.

"Dad," I said. I paused, realizing I didn't have anything else to say after that. How do you explain to your dad that you're worried you won't be able to help save the world again for the third time?

Luckily, he knew where I was probably headed with this. "I know what you're thinking," he said, holding up a hand as if to stop me from collapsing on the ground with the news or something. "I'm telling you right here that you're going to do fine."

"What?" I asked. Either gods were mind readers or my dad just knew me. There was no way he could've known what I was thinking. "There's no way for you to know that. I could completely screw all of this up and send the whole world to Hades."

"You could," my dad agreed. "But you aren't going to do that." He clapped me on the shoulder. "Besides, I'm a god. I know things. But more importantly, I'm your father. You won't blow this."

"Maybe not completely. But someone's going to get hurt by all this. There's no way they won't," I continued morbidly.

"You can't save everyone, Percy," he told me seriously. "Not even the greatest of heroes can do that."

"I feel like I should've done _more _though," I said frustrated, scratching at a piece of the concrete wall. "I _could've _done more."

Poseidon sighed, like he didn't understand why I was saying any of these things. "Percy, I don't think you understand how much you've already done." He shook his head slightly. "It's probably too early in the morning to be talking about all of this, but you need to hear it," he muttered to himself.

"You've done far more than you probably, in all fairness, should have had to do," Dad said louder, so I could hear him better. "You've been asked to do too many things, make too many sacrifices, than a kid should have been asked. And yet somehow, you always come through." His eyes twinkled with a teasing glint for a moment. "Now, I think that might be a little bit of Sally's stubbornness mixed in with mine," he said fondly.

"It could have been worse though," I pointed out, neatly dodging what my dad had said about me. It didn't really matter if I had barely scraped by in the past if I blew it this time. "I mean, look at some of the heroes back then. They had it worse than me."

"But not as many of them were as young as you were," he countered. "How many heroes have the privilege of saying that they personally saved the world twice?" He raised an eyebrow, almost challenging me to come up with something to contradict what he said.

"I think you're asking the wrong person about ancient Greek history," I said. My dad chuckled.

"You don't give yourself far enough credit, Percy," he said quietly, smiling. He stood up a little straighter after a few moments. "So what are you going to do about all of this? Got a plan?"

"Working on it. Except, you know, I kind of need more than just who the guy is. I need to know what his plans are, too," I reminded him.

"Oh, I'm sure those will come pretty quickly," Dad told me.

I glanced at him suspiciously. "How do you know that?"

"I'm a god," he said, grinning. "I do have feelings and premonitions sometimes, you know."

"I barely even know what premonition means."

"Please tell me that's a joke."

I rolled my eyes and laughed. "Sure, sure." I picked at a loose thread on my shirt. "You think the kids at camp are going to be ready?" I asked him after a while.

"Yes," he answered. "I think they'll be fine once they see their leader is getting there, too."

"Technically, I'm not the only leader," I commented. "There's Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Leo, and that's not even counting on the other senior campers—"

"I'm nearly positive if we took a vote at your camp that it would be unanimous that you are the leader," Poseidon deadpanned.

I turned my back to the city so that my back was leaning on the wall. "I'm sure the Ares cabin would be completely fine voting for me, too." I smirked. "Yeah, no."

Thunder rumbled in the distance.

"It seems like that is my cue," Dad frowned. "Your team must want you."

"I can only imagine what Fury said," I told him. "Do I really have to go down there and talk about that right now?" Skipping out sounded like a pretty great idea to me, at the moment. Except, you know, I'm pretty sure it's frowned upon to play hooky during a world crisis.

That didn't necessarily mean that I didn't think about it.

"Yes, you really have to," my dad said slowly, like he was talking to a two year old who didn't want to take a bath.

"Ugh," I groaned, pushing myself off the concrete edge of the roof. I faced my dad. "So, I guess I'll see you later?"

Dad nodded. "Yes. Call if you need anything." He stepped closer and stared at me contemplatively for a moment. I squirmed. It seemed like I would never get used to a god staring at me like that, no matter who it was. "And in the meantime, Percy," he hesitated for a moment. "Don't do anything foolish." He faded into sea mist before I could say anything.

I grumbled out something not very nice about life in general and walked over the roof door. I had a team meeting to go to.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

I walked in when an argument was going. An admittedly one-sided argument.

"That plan makes no sense," Tony said hotly, his elbows resting on the table. He pointed a finger at Steve. "Just because Fury thinks he runs the show doesn't mean he actually does."

Steve rubbed a hand over his face tiredly. "Honestly, Tony, if you can come up with a better idea, I'm all for it. But for now, we're stuck with this one."

"What plan?" I asked, sitting myself in a seat between Thor and Bruce.

"Fury's idiot plan," Tony said grouchily.

"What is it?"

"That's the thing," Clint said. "We don't know."

"Fury won't tell us what our course of action is," Steve explained. "It might be because he doesn't trust us, or he's trying to take into stock that things might change quickly or what."

I rubbed at my messy hair. "He won't even give us an idea?"

"No," Natasha said. "The only thing he said to Steve after Steve had told him everything was that he would talk to Agent Smart and get back to us."

"And that's it?" I asked in disbelief.

"Apparently," Bruce said, clearly not pleased.

"Does he know that we might get attacked before then? Or do I need to go tell him that myself?" I asked, throwing my hands up in the air. Was Fury kidding me? The fact that we could get attacked any time soon must not have crossed his mind whatsoever. Either that, or he was just hiding something from us.

"Listen, Fury's always got ulterior motives," Natasha said reasonably. "We just need to find out what it is."

"I agree with Natasha," Thor said, nodding his head. "Fury always seems to have a double plan. This would be a good thing if he actually _spoke _to us of this plan." Thor huffed, crossing his arms.

"So what should we do?" I asked. "Just wait and try and figure it out?" I asked unenthusiastically.

"It's looking like that's the best option," Tony said reluctantly. He frowned for a moment and then brightened. "But that doesn't necessarily stop us from doing a little investigating of our own," he said with a gleam in his eye.

"What are we going to investigate?" Bruce asked. "The attack sites? Motives? Or what the titan actually is?"

"The answer is D, all of the above," Tony said, pointing a finger at Bruce. "You can't beat something you don't know."

"I can IM Annabeth and ask her to help," I offered.

"Yeah, go ask her now, if that's all right?" Steve asked.

"Yeah, she's up and probably not too busy right now," I told him.

Clint grinned at me. "Now, don't stay on the IM too long." He winked conspiratorially at me. "We _do _have work to do."

I blushed. " Yeah, yeah." I got up and quickly left the room before they could tell me anything else. I didn't leave quick enough not to hear their chuckles and snickers, though.

I walked into my room, going to the bathroom to start the call since it was the closest to the water. A few moments later, Annabeth popped up on the image. She was sitting on the beach.

"Got a minute, Wise Girl?" I asked, smiling when she jumped a little.

She rolled her eyes, but smiled back. "What do you want this time, Seaweed Brain? I was actually peaceful for a sec there." She sighed. "I knew it wouldn't last," she said playfully.

I placed a hand over my heart. "Harsh, Annabeth. Harsh." I shook my head so I wouldn't get too off-topic. "I called to ask to see if you and a couple others could maybe piece together some stuff that has anything to do with Coeus or Thanos? It would be a huge help."

"I'll see what I can do. You probably need all the help you can get."

"Thanks, Annabeth," I said. "I owe you one. Or two." I thought some more. "Or a lot."

She laughed. The sound filled me with warmth like a beautiful, sunny summer's day. "You bet, Seaweed Brain. How are things going over there?"

"Besides the attacks, we're doing fine. Except, you know, I managed to tick off the Council," I said sheepishly.

"Really, Percy?" She asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Okay, they were being total jerks!" I exclaimed defensively. "They said we probably didn't even really save the world. Twice. They implied I was making that up."

"I know they're jerks, but you just have to ignore them. They aren't even important in your life, so why let it bother you?" she said. Honestly, she should have been on the Avengers. She probably would have given more to the team. And she wouldn't have threatened the Council's wellbeing, either.

"I know," I sighed. "But I had just gotten done fighting that hellhound, so I was a little irritated."

She shook her head, rolling her eyes. "They're just ignorant. Other than that, things are good? It looks like you like the team."

"Yeah, the team's great. They're really cool, actually," I said. "It's funny, I think Tony and Leo would get along great. They both have the same personality of wanting to make stuff that could potentially go haywire and blow things up."

Annabeth shook her head in dismay, a few golden curls flopping in her face in the process. She brushed them out of the way. "Great. Now there're two of them." She frowned suddenly. "Oh, hey, I needed to tell you about some trees dying in New York."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "Like getting cut down or just dying?"

"Like, wilting and falling apart dying," Annabeth said. "A whole acre or two of trees about ten minutes away from camp got taken out. You should've seen Grover." She winced. "You know, it almost looks like they had all the energy drained out of them or something."

I shrugged, not really knowing what else to do. "It's definitely worth looking into, for sure."

"That's exactly what I was going to say."

"Any ideas on what it could be?" I asked hopefully.

Whatever Annabeth was about to say was suddenly cut off by a shrill beeping sound. She paused in confusion, and I looked up at the ceiling. Was Jarvis making that sound as an alarm? "Jarvis?" I asked cautiously, "what was that for?"

"There seems to be a power spike in downtown New York," Jarvis answered. "It perfectly matches the signature of the power flares that occurred in the area of the Mathnasium and the serpent attack."

I cursed under my breath. I looked back at Annabeth. "That can't be anything good," I said grimly.

"Call if you need help," she said, worriedly biting her lip.

"Hey," I said softly. "I'm good. I'll be fine."

"I know."

"So don't worry."

"That's like saying even though you're starving, don't eat anything for another day or two."

"I'll call you after," I promised. "It's probably just another regular group of monsters, anyway."

"You hope," she muttered. "See you soon, Percy."

I gave her an attempt at a smile and waved a hand through the connection. I jogged into the kitchen and saw the team already gathered there. "What's up with the power flux?" I panted.

"It looks like there's another attack happening about seven minutes away from us," Tony said, tapping on a hand-held device, his eyes scanning the readings rapidly. "I don't know what it is. The cameras are very conveniently not working right now in that area."

"Are we all going to go check it out?" I asked. "Or just half of us?"

"Well, you're going to go for sure, of course," Steve said. "Then maybe Natasha and me? And we can call in Tony and the others if we need to."

"That sounds fine to me," I agreed. "We probably need to go quick, though."

"So go get on your armor, and we'll go on foot so no one sees us," Natasha said. "I know some back roads. And those news cameras are everywhere. Literally."

"We'll meet back here in five minutes," Steve said.

I jogged back to my room and began strapping on my armor, expertly tightening and loosening straps and then buckling them. After everything was strapped on and fitted just right, I grabbed my helmet from off the bed and speed-walked back to the kitchen. Steve was slipping on his gloves, and Natasha was there with the dagger I had given her, strapping it to her thigh along with her dozen other weapons.

"Not too shabby," Tony said appreciatively, glancing at my armor. "That's a nice design and fit. Was it made out of Celestial bronze? Who made it? It doesn't even look bulky."

"Yes, and Hephaestus, probably," I said, fixing a strap near my shoulder.

"I could probably learn a thing or two from those guys," Tony said dreamily. He shook his head. "Anyway, I've got the coords for this little mission. I put it in on your phone, Steve, so it'll guide you right to the attack area." Tony took three earpieces off the table and handed it to us. "Here you go. Don't break them. They're monster-tracking proof, Ariel."

"Are they water proof?" I asked, shoving the thing into my ear.

Tony sighed. "Water resistant. It's a prototype on the whole heavy duty water thing."

"I'll be fine," I assured him. "That should be good enough."

"Okay, ready?" Steve asked, slipping his shield into a briefcase so a passerby wouldn't see the bright red, white, and blue colors of it.

"Ready," I replied.

**A/N: Yeah, so not a lot of action, but still some important stuff. Again, sorry for the lateness. I've decided to do a cover, and I'm going to try and send some stuff to the wonderful Annabeth Brady so she can work some magic. I'll do my best to see you guys this Sunday! As always, reviews are greatly appreciated and hoarded! **


End file.
